


Dollar Signs And Crimson Hair

by DreamingInWonderland



Category: Downton Abbey
Genre: Blackmail and intrigue, But not really that much, F/M, Originally posted between August and November 2015, Transferred From Fanfiction.net, film noir kinda, love's a game wanna play
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-24
Updated: 2019-06-24
Packaged: 2020-05-19 00:19:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 53,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19345681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamingInWonderland/pseuds/DreamingInWonderland
Summary: Modern AU: When Charles Carson PI, takes on a new case from Lord Parsons it sends him straight into the path of ‘professional gold digger’ Elsie Hughes. It leads to a game that can only have one winner. But can he keep his mind focused on the job, when he’s in danger of losing his heart?Title inspired by the song 'Juliet' by Lawson





	1. Chapter 1

Charles frowned as he noticed the dark clouds, it was supposed to be the middle of June, but it looked more like the middle of November. He shook his head slightly before he walked into the small makeshift office that he had set up in the corner of the living room. He picked up the file that was resting on top of a precarious pile of paper, and flicked through it, checking he had every single bit of information he needed before he met with Mr Merton later this morning. Satisfied, he had everything, Charles placed the file in the inside pocket of his coat before he picked up the umbrella and headed out into the grey morning. As he walked in the direction of the SoHo district, Charles felt the fine drizzle start to give way to a steady downpour. He put the umbrella up and carried on his way, paying no attention to the hoards of commuters rushing about for the nearest undergrounds, buses and taxis. It was rule one of his guide book to being a successful Private Investigator, draw no attention to yourself and blend in with the crowd. Well that, and never get involved on any kind of personal level with a client or a target.

-x-

Across town, the fact that it was raining didn’t bother Oliver Parsons as it gave him the opportunity to stay in bed with his lover. He raised himself up on one elbow and watched as she pulled on her boots, before tying back her hair.

“I thought you said you would stay in bed today,” he commented as he watched her make sure everything was in her bag.

“I said no such thing,” Elsie smiled, “I believe it was you who was trying to persuade me to stay in bed all day.”

“And it would seem I’ve failed,” Oliver sighed as he flopped back against the pillows.

“If I hadn’t agreed to this meeting, then I would,” she replied as she pressed a kiss to his forehead, “but its important.”

“I know,” Oliver said, “its one of the reasons I like you so much, you have a job. Unlike that spiteful bitch of an ex-wife.”

Elsie rolled her eyes at him good naturedly, before turning to leave. It had been all too easy to make him fall for her. She was almost sorry it had to end next month, but that was the nature of her second life. Never stay with one man long enough to form any kind of attachment. It made her job so much simpler.

* * *

To many people, SoHo was home to the most fashionable of restaurants and had long thrown off its former life as the home of the London sex industry. However, to those in the know, or those that bothered to look between the upmarket restaurants and media offices long enough, that seedy underbelly still existed. It was mainly for that reason that Charles Carson had set up his office there. Many of his clients preferred it, and it certainly lent a kind of ambiance to his dealings. More often than not, his clients had often likened it to a 1940’s film noir.

"And this is everything?” Richard Merton asked as he looked through the folder that Charles had just handed him. Richard Merton was one of London’s most well known and respected investors and had approached Charles to investigate one of his junior associates before a formal offer was made to make Alex Green a partner in the company.

“Everything,” Charles confirmed, as he turned away from the window, “all of Green’s previous dealings, including some unsubstantiated, but ultimately true claims of assault and embezzlement. Hardly the kind of person that Merton and Gillingham would want as a partner in their business.”

“Quite right,” Merton nodded, as he put the file into his briefcase and handed over an envelope, “I think that’s everything we agreed,” he added.

Charles accepted the envelope and flicked through the wad of cash that was stuffed into it, counting it as he went.

“Yes it is,” Charles replied putting the envelope into his desk drawer, “is there anything else you would like me to look into for you?”

“Not today,” Merton replied as he stood up, “but should I need it, you’ll be the first person I call,” he added as he left the office.

Charles watched him leave and gave a nod of satisfaction at another job well done, even if it had been a little too easy and pedestrian. Charles much preferred the longer cases, especially as they meant he could squeeze more money out of his clients. He sat back in his chair, and turned it around to watch the rain fall down the window. Charles wondered just how long it would be before another case came along, all the while hoping that it would be a long case this time. Of course had he known what was to come, he might have regretted that thought.

* * *

Elsie hurried from the taxi and towards the front door of the building. While her main source of income was what Thomas called ‘her professional gold digging business’, Elsie also taught a creative writing course once a week at the City of London Community Education Centre. Had certain matters not arisen, Elsie would have been content to carry on teaching adults with an interest in creative writing. However, needs must, and the money she earned wasn’t that much. Especially as the course only ran for twelve weeks every April to June, and September to November.

She smiled at Daisy who manned the reception desk, before heading in the direction of Sarah Bunting’s office. Even though Elsie knew there was a good reason as to why Sarah had called her in, she still couldn’t help but feel as though she was in for a scolding from the headmistress. Elsie smirked slightly, at that thought. Sarah Bunting was about ten years younger than her, and in no way a headmistress. She guessed it must be a throw back from the amount of times she’d been called into the headmistress’ office in school.

“Come in,” called a voice as Elsie knocked on the door, “ah Elsie, sorry to have made you come in on a morning like this.”

“Oh it was no trouble,” Elsie replied as she took the seat Sarah indicated.

“So, I guess you would like to know why I’ve called you in,” Sarah began as she pulled up a spreadsheet on her computer, before she transferred it to the big screen on the wall.

“I did wonder why it couldn’t wait until I came in on Thursday,” Elsie commented with a smile, which Sarah returned.

“Well, it could have,” Sarah replied, “but I believe in striking while the iron is hot,” she added “as you can see, these are the people that are interested in the creative writing course,” Sarah finished as she indicated the spreadsheet on the big screen.

“Is that everyone that has signed up?” Elsie asked in shock.

“That is the waiting list,” Sarah replied, “personally I think it’s the effect of that drama on the BBC about Virginia Woolf, it normally happens when there’s a popular drama about an author,” she added, “anyway, I was wondering if when we ran the course again in September, you would like to run the class twice a week, once on a Monday and then on a Thursday. Or any other two days of your choosing.”

“So, the two classes would run simultaneously?” Elsie asked.

“Yes,” Sarah smiled, “it would mean a fair bit of extra work, and only a slight increase in pay, funding has rather dried up at the minute.”

“No, that’s fine,” Elsie replied, her second job so to speak, more than covered her expenses, “I think I could manage it.”

“Excellent,” Sarah said, “well, we’ll work out the details nearer the time.”

As Elsie walked out of the building, she was relieved to see that the rain had tapered off somewhat and had returned to the fine drizzle it had been earlier that morning. She was about to put up her umbrella, when she heard her mobile’s message alert go off. Elsie pulled out her phone, expecting it to be from a friend, but the initials on the screen made her pause.

‘ _Clock’s ticking Ms. Hughes. End of the week. RC’_

Elsie put the phone back in her bag and let out a shaky breath. Her plans would have to be moved up several weeks.


	2. Chapter 2

Elsie quickly hurried through the front door of Oliver’s palatial Mayfair town house. She quickly took down the umbrella and placed it in the umbrella stand before she removed her coat. Elsie hoped that Oliver had gone out somewhere and wasn’t still in bed otherwise it would make things much harder. She couldn’t call up the stairs as there was no way he would hear her, especially as his bedroom and office (the two places he spent the most time) were on the fourth floor. Elsie headed up the three flights of stairs to reach these main rooms (the ground and first floors were for entertaining only) and was relieved to see no sign of anyone else in the building. That said, she knew that Katya the cleaning lady had been in as everything looked spotless and the remnants of her morning coffee had been cleaned up. She placed her handbag on the coffee table in the sitting room, before she hurried across the hall to his office, heels tapping across the hardwood. She pushed open the door and sat down at the desk. Despite what she was about to do, Elsie couldn’t help but smile as her eyes fell upon a picture of her and Oliver from a charity event his company had hosted. Out of her most recent dalliance’s, she did quite like him.

“Now, where did I see him, put the filing cabinet key?” she asked aloud as she drummed her fingers against the desk. Whenever she stayed over (which had begin to happen with alarming frequency), Elsie always made sure to spend a lot of time watching him at work in his home office. Purely because she needed to know where his things would be should she need it, “ah that’s right!” she exclaimed as she stood up and walked over to the antique grandfather clock that stood in the corner of the office. She opened the casing and took the key of a little hook that hung on the side of it.

Elsie unlocked the filing cabinet, and began opening the drawers to find the right file. After five minutes, she found the file that his banking information was kept in. She was about to switch on his computer when she heard faint footsteps on the stairs. Footsteps that grew louder the closer they got to her. She quickly put everything back where it was and headed into the sitting room.

“Elsie?”

“In here,” she called back as she moved to stand in the doorway to see Oliver turn a corner, “is everything alright?”

“Urgent meeting with the divorce lawyers, felt like a bloody colonoscopy,” he replied as he walked into the room and headed over to the drinks cabinet. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, my meeting with Sarah finished earlier than I expected, and I found myself at a loose end, so I thought why not come by,” Elsie replied as she walked over to him and hooked her arms around his neck, before she kissed him lightly.

“Really?” Oliver asked with a quirk of his eyebrow, as he began to walk them towards his room.

“Unless you’ve got other plans,” she shrugged.

“Absolutely not,” he laughed as he pulled her into his bedroom.

-x-x-x-x-x-

From his window on the fifth floor of the office building, Charles had the perfect vantage point to observe the masses of London. As he looked down at the street, he recalled a game he had played with his sister when they had been stuck on long train rides as children. They would sit and try to guess what was going on in their lives. Even though it annoyed their parents, it kept him and Beryl occupied. It had also allowed him to develop skills in reading people as he could usually guess what clients wanted within a few minutes of meeting them. Charles winced as he felt a twinge in his side. The old wound always did play up slightly in wet weather. It never used to bother him, three years ago when he first got it, but now that he was getting on in years (not that he needed reminding he was approaching 50) it began to ache in the rain.

“Contemplating the rain again Charlie boy,” came a voice from the door.

“I’ve told you to not call me that,” Charles said as he turned around to see Beryl stood in the doorway.

“As your older sister, its my duty to call you what I like,” Beryl replied as she took a seat in front of the desk.

“What can I do for you?” he asked, “need me to follow Bill for you?” he joked, knowing that Bill was one of the most open and honest men he knew.

“Very funny,” Beryl replied, “no I was doing a spot of shopping in Covent Garden, and thought I’d invite you over for dinner tonight,” she added, “unless you’ve got a case that you’re working on?”

Charles could tell by the look on her face that she had an ulterior motive for the invitation. Especially as she normally just rung him and told him, in no uncertain terms that he was expected for dinner.

“This isn’t another one of your set ups is it?” he asked with a frown, noticing how she looked down at her feet instead of answering. “I told you, relationships and PI’s do not go hand in hand,” he added “besides the last one was a disaster.”

“Well how was I to know, that you’d already met Rita,” Beryl protested, “come on you’ll like Melanie, Bill say she’s one of the nicest women he’s ever had working for him.”

“No, Beryl.”

* * *

Once she was certain, he was asleep, Elsie unwrapped herself from Oliver’s embrace and got out of the bed. She quickly walked around the bedroom, pulling on her clothes as she went. Once she was dressed, Elsie hurried back into the office, and switched on the computer screen. For once, she was glad that he never actually switched off the computer, as it made everything so much easier. Elsie pulled up the internet and logged into his online banking account. While the transfer of funds was taking place, Elsie pulled out a small flash drive from her bag, and plugged it into the side of the computer. It was a handy little piece of software that Thomas had ‘borrowed’ from his ex-boyfriend, that could wipe internet history, and delete any trace of online transactions. It wasn’t exactly foolproof, but it gave Elsie enough time to split whatever money she took and give two thirds to the relevant parties. She did feel bad about it, but considering that she was being blackmailed (and had been for 15 years), she felt she had very little choice in the matter.

Elsie smiled as she received a message on her phone to let her know that the money had been transferred into the holding account ready to be divided up. She run the cleansing programme, and walked across to the bedroom to make sure she had left nothing behind. Satisfied that she had everything, Elsie took a last look at the man that lay sleeping across the middle of the bed.

“Goodbye Oliver,” she whispered, pressing a last kiss to his forehead, “its been fun,” she added as she turned on her heel and walked out the room, out of the house, out of his life.

As she left the building, Elsie pulled out her phone and pulled up the phone directory. Her finger hovered over the initials P.M. for a moment, before she continued to scroll through the contact list. There would be time to make _that_ call later. As she reached his number, Elsie took a deep breath before she pressed the call button.

“ _Hello.”_

“It’s done,” Elsie said, “your money should be with you within 48 hours.”

“ _That wasn’t so hard was it? How much is it?”_

“£300,000.”

“ _Good, that should keep me off your back for another six months. Goodbye Ms. Hughes.”_

As the line went dead, Elsie sighed. It had been fifteen years, and he still showed no signs of unleashing her from the deal. Sometimes, Elsie wished she could go back in time and force her younger self to not go through with the revenge plan that had started this all off. She pulled her coat tighter around her, and walked towards the tube station. She was due another visit.

* * *

As Charles walked down Pall Mall, towards Boodle’s, Charles wondered just what it was that Lord Parson’s wanted to speak to him about. Especially as it was six pm, and he kept nine to five office hours. Charles recalled the recent headlines about Lord Parson’s wife having an affair with one of his peers in the House of Lords, and how he had been seen ‘drowning his sorrows’ with a woman ten years younger than him. Charles would be willing to bet that the meeting had something to do with his soon-to-be ex-wife or the ‘younger’ woman.

“Charles Carson, here to meet Lord Parsons,” Charles said to the doorman stood just inside the door. He watched as he looked down a list before looking back with a nod.

“This way please Mr Carson. Lord Parsons, is waiting for you in the dining room.”

Charles followed the doorman through a labyrinthine corridor. The doors all carried the same design, and were all closed. The only hints at the direction they were going were the portraits of prominent members over the years. Going backwards through time, right back to its founder Lord Shelburne. As he walked into the dining room, Charles scanned the room and noticed several men he had helped out over the years. As they approached a table by the far wall, Charles caught sight of Lord Parsons who was nursing a small scotch. He looked up as he heard the footsteps and shooed the doorman away with a flick of his hand.

“Thank you for meeting me here Mr Carson,” Lord Parsons said as he reached the table and indicated that Charles should sit down opposite him, “I know you don’t normally meet clients outside of the office, but…”

“You felt this would be better following the recent press intrusion,”

“Quite,” Lord Parsons replied as he pulled out a small envelope and slid it over to Charles. He pulled it open and looked at the photo contained inside. Charles recognised her instantly as the woman he had been having the fling with. “Her name is Elsie Hughes.”

“And you want me to follow her?”

“Not exactly.”


	3. Chapter 3

Charles sat back in his chair, a tumbler of scotch reflecting on his conversation from last night. It certainly hadn’t been what he had been expecting. Most Lords or businessmen who contacted him about and their problems involved women, just wanted a simple tailing to prove or disprove that said woman was having an affair. But this, this was something else altogether. Especially when the woman in question was in the business of scamming them out of millions.

_Charles recognised her instantly as the woman that Lord Parsons had been having the fling with. “Her name is Elsie Hughes.”_

“ _And you want me to follow her?”_

“ _Not exactly,” Oliver replied, “this…woman, left my house sometime this afternoon…”_

“ _That’s hardly a crime,” Charles interrupted._

“ _It is when she takes £1.5 million of my money with her,” Oliver said, his expression hardening, “she led me on for six months, made me believe she was in love with me and all the while she was planning this.”_

“ _Did you love her?” Charles asked, though he could read the answer play out briefly on Oliver’s face._

“ _I want you to ruin her,” he replied ignoring Charles’ question, “do whatever you have to do. I just want my money back and her ruined,” he added._

“ _Alright,” Charles replied after a few moments of thought, “normally my fee is a flat £5,000 -£10,000 depending on the nature of the case. But if you want me to ruin her, its going to be a bit more. As expenses will run high once I’ve figured out the best way to do this.”_

“ _Money’s not a problem,” Oliver replied, “there are several accounts she didn’t know about.” he added, “And do you know what that is?” he asked his curiosity rising by the thoughtful look on Charles’ face._

“ _Normally I find it’s best to give them a taste of their own medicine,” Charles replied with a smirk. ‘Oh Ms. Hughes,’ he thought, ‘you have no idea what’s coming your way.’_

_For a brief moment, a flicker of sympathy rose inside Oliver Parsons. He had spent six months with Elsie, and he did have some stirrings of love for her. But then he remembered the money she’d taken and the sympathy died and he answered Charles’ smirk with one of his own._

Charles finished off his drink, and turned away from the window. He placed the empty glass on top of the filing cabinet and pulled a brown file towards him. In it was a single piece of paper, full of the information that Lord Parsons had given him the previous evening. It was just basic information like her address, date of birth, and her job. Or at least what he had believed. But Charles couldn’t be bothered with any doubts that Oliver Parsons had on information he had been given. It was more than enough for Charles to at least make preliminary checks on her.

Charles stood up and was about to head out, when his mobile began to ring. He picked it up and saw that it was Robert Crawley.

“Hello,” he answered, wondering what Robert wanted. Since he had helped Lady Sybil escape from her marriage to Larry Grey, Robert, had become something of a friend, and sometimes called up just for a chat. Sometimes though, it was normally to invite him to some event that Cora was hosting.

“Sorry to bother you during office hours,” Robert replied, “is it alright to talk?”

“It is,” Charles replied, “What can I do for you?” he asked

“Well, Cora wants to host another 1920’s style shooting weekend over the bank holiday, and she wondered if you wanted to come.” Robert replied.

“Is that legal?” Charles asked, he was a bit fuzzy on the hunting and shooting laws, but he knew enough to know that there was often a stink in the press about these things.

“As long as it’s after August 12 and they’re in season,” Robert replied, “our game keeper reckons we’ve got a nice flock of them this year,” he added, “What do you think? You in old chap?”

“I’ll have to think it over, I don’t know what will come up case wise,” Charles replied.

“Well Cora will keep a room free for you in the planning in case you do decide to come. And if you want to bring a guest,” Robert said, “though you are rather a bit of a bachelor aren’t you old boy,” he laughed, “I’ll speak to you soon,” he finished as he hung up.

As the line went dead, Charles couldn’t help but wonder if it would be worth going to this shooting weekend. If things went the way he hoped they would when he met Elsie, then a weekend on a big country estate would probably be just the thing. He looked at the end of August on his calendar and placed a small question mark over the weekend of the late summer bank holiday.

Charles picked up his phone and headed out towards Clerkenwell. From the information Lord Parsons had given him, he knew that Elsie taught at the City of London Community Education Centre. Even though, like Lord Parsons, Charles did wonder if that was actually true, he still decided that it would at least be a start with regards to getting a bit of background on her.

-x-x-x-x-

Elsie sighed as she stood in the queue. She hated Starbucks with a passion, preferring the non-chain coffee shops. They seemed to give a more welcoming approach. So she spent most of the waiting time cursing Thomas’ name for wanting to meet there. There were times Elsie wondered why she was still friends with him. Of course at those moments, he’d help her out or show the side only glimpsed by a few, and Elsie remembered why she counted him among her few friends.

After a long wait, Elsie walked across the floor towards the corner booth where Thomas had ensconced himself. She figured this 50 feet journey would be a hell of a lot easier if the coffee shop wasn’t full of people and she wasn’t carrying a tray with a cup of tea, a large cappuccino and a slice of carrot cake for Thomas. Elsie set the tray down on the table and slid into the opposite side of the booth.

“Thank you,” Thomas said as she passed his drink over to him, and took a sip of it, “Oh that’s lovely,” he added, deliberately smacking his lips knowing it annoyed her. He smiled in satisfaction as she rolled her eyes at him.

“So what was so urgent you had to meet me this evening?” she asked “you know I’ve got a class in a little while.”

“It’s a five minute walk,” Thomas replied as he cut into the slice with a fork, “though why you still bother with that teaching lark I don’t know. It’s not as if you need the money,” he added with a mouthful of cake.

“Because I enjoy it,” Elsie frowned. Thomas still had to grasp the concept of enjoying your profession. _Even if he’s grasped enough throughout his career_ , she thought wryly, “so what was it you wanted to give me?”

“This,” Thomas replied as he pulled out a brown folder from his inside pocket, “information about the clientele of the Rainbow Casino. It’s a new one, opened last month down by the Excel Centre.”

“How did you get this?” she asked as she flicked through it.

“One of the croupiers, Jimmy, owed me a favour,” Thomas smiled, as Elsie refrained from asking just _what_ kind of favour was owed. “So do you know just who you’re going after this time?”

“No, not yet,” Elsie replied “I’ll have a look at the casino and see what’s on offer,” she added as she took a sip of her tea. She placed the folder inside her bag and picked up the takeaway cup she’d had her drink put in, “well I must be getting on, and it seems I’ve got a long night ahead of me.”

\--x--

Charles sat on a low wall opposite the building, and watched the people walking in and out. Charles had to admit he had been shocked when he looked at the staff profiles on the Education Centre website and had seen Elsie’s name amongst them. It certainly intrigued him to think that a woman with a regular income - of sorts - would be in the business of gold digging. He looked at his watch. From the information on the website, he knew her creative writing class started at five and it was now half four. As he looked up from his watch, Charles caught his first glimpse of Elsie. She was hurrying towards the front door, a takeaway cup of coffee in one hand, and an oversized handbag in the other. Satisfied that he knew where she’d be for the next two hours, Charles decided to pay a visit to a friend of his. One who he knew would be able to give him a little information. Or at least provide him with some temporary accommodation when he began the job properly.

Charles walked down Coleman Street towards _The Wandering Soldier_. Normally, he would only go to the pub on the weekends but he needed to speak his friend and former colleague John Bates. John had been his business partner (in so far as PI’s had business partners) but had used his savings and brought a small pub when his wife Anna had found out she was pregnant. That had been six years ago, and John had never looked back. Though he did still keep an ear to the ground in case Charles ever needed a hand with or extra information for a case.

Charles pushed open the pub door and scanned the room. He saw John stood behind the bar and raised a hand in greeting and weaved through the patrons to reach the bar.

“Usual, Charles?” John asked as he reached him.

“Yes please,” he replied, “Where’s Anna?” he asked noticing a red haired woman serving instead of Anna.

“Poppy’s ill, so Anna’s taken her to the doctor’s. Gwen, there, is our newest recruit, she’s a student over at Bart’s” John replied “anyway what can I do for you?”

“Two things really,” Charles replied “one, do you still rent out that flat in the Wapping?”

“I do,” John nodded, “I’ve not got anyone there at the moment, why do you need it?”

“It’s for a case, I don’t know how long it will last though,” he shrugged, “I’ve just been given a case by Lord Parsons and I’ve got to go undercover.”

“That’s not a problem, we’ll settle up a fee later,” John commented as he slid a Stella over the counter, “why do you have to go undercover?”

“It seems that Lord Parsons got himself involved with a self-styled professional gold digger, and she took £1.5 million off of him,” Charles replied, “and it’s actually the other reason I’m here. You know a lot of people like us, and have seen it all, what do you know of Elsie Hughes?” Charles asked watching as John’s face changed into a twisted sort of grimace.

“She’s trouble,” John commented, “Lord Parsons isn’t the only one who has hired someone to get to her,” he added, “Ms Hughes has a way of dragging you down with her. I’ve seen her ruin good men, just be careful. I’d hate to see you go the same way too.”

Half an hour later, Charles left _The Wandering Soldier_ and was heading back towards the Education Centre, the keys to flat 16, Athelstan House, in his pocket. He’d move his stuff over later and tell Beryl his temporary address if she needed him. Though she was generally good at not bothering with him while he was on a case. From previous experience, Charles knew that he would get some get fantastic views from the private roof terrace. Just the kind of views that rich businessmen would woo women with. _This is going to be far too easy,_ he thought with a chuckle.


	4. Chapter 4

Elsie stood in front of her wardrobe and tried to figure out what she would wear. Her visit the previous night to the casino had given her a start on who would be an appropriate mark. There had been several options, but the one she’d taken the most notice of was one she’d only seen in passing. However, their eyes had locked as she’d walked past him as he was sat at the blackjack table. In the five seconds it took to walk past him, Elsie had decided that she rather liked the look of him and decided that if he was back again tonight, then he would be the one. She had gotten his name off of the assistant manning the coat check, and had thought about doing some research on him. However, on the way home, Elsie decided that a little mystery was a good thing. Besides, she had a plan, and if it all went the way she hoped, then she hoped that she would be well on the way to finding out a lot more about Charles Carson by the end of the night.

She pulled out two green dresses from her wardrobe and laid them out on the bed. She looked at both of them and wondered which one it was that she should wear. Both had their advantages, and neither would look out of place amongst the clientele of the Rainbow Casino. Elsie picked up her phone from the bedside table and snapped a quick photo of the two dresses and sent it to Thomas. For all his faults and occasional attitude, he gave good advice when it came to what to wear. Within moments of sending it, Thomas replied short and to the point: ‘The green lace one. Wear with black heels.’

Elsie was about to send a reply when another message came through; ‘I want all the details if you get lucky.’

Elsie shook her head as she put the green satin dress away, and put the lace one on the wardrobe door, before heading into the en-suite to take a shower.

-x-x-x-

Across London, Charles looked out across the city from the private terrace of his temporary accommodation. Last night, he had followed Elsie towards the new casino on Rayleigh Road. He had also made contact with her, well eye contact. As she had walked past the black jack table, Charles had managed to catch her eye and smiled. He had also caught the small smile she had sent back. He had hoped that she would come over and introduce herself, but she hadn’t. Charles knew she hadn’t left with anyone else, he had kept a close eye on her. His only hope was that Elsie would be back again this evening.

Charles turned away from the view, and headed back inside. He had to get ready for tonight. If all went well, he would find himself firmly in the sights of Elsie Hughes, and he could get on with his job for Lord Parsons. Whistling to himself, he walked towards the bathroom. Tonight was certainly going to be interesting.

-x-x-x-x-

Elsie looked at her reflection in the mirror. She had to admit Thomas had been right about which dress she should wear. The dress was made of satin in a deep green colour with mid length sleeves, and a lace overlay covering all the fabric. It had a sweetheart neckline showing the barest hint of cleavage, and the dress ended just below her knees. The black heels had the effect of elongating her legs. While she had yet to get to know Charles Carson and had yet to figure out just what type of woman he was into, she couldn’t deny the effect they often had on men.

She moved her hands up into her hair and styled it into a loose up do, just to see how it worked with the dress. Satisfied that it did, Elsie walked over to her dressing table and sat down, and pinning her hair into place, leaving a strand or two hanging loose to frame her face. Not for the first time, she thanked the good genetics of her mother for the fact that she looked younger than her 42 years. Beside her, her mobile beeped signalling that she had a message. Elsie swiped the screen to see it was the taxi she had ordered. With a final glance in the mirror, Elsie picked up her wrap and her bag, before leaving the flat.

* * *

Charles got out of the car and looked up at the building. It had once been a derelict warehouse, but a developer had paid £5 million for the land, and knocked down the old building to replace it with a state of the art Casino and Entertainment Complex. The Rainbow Casino operated 24 hours and had a separate entrance to the Entertainment Complex so that any under aged or unsavoury people couldn’t enter it. Before he walked inside Charles tapped the driver’s window (he had decided that using a chauffeur might add another dimension to his little plan).

“Pick me up at midnight, unless I call earlier.”

“Very good sir,” the driver nodded, before he drove off.

Charles handed his coat over to the woman at the coat check and took his ticket all the while scanning the casino foyer. As Charles walked through the doors and onto the casino floor, he paid close attention to the female patrons of the casino. Every time he caught a flash of red hair, Charles looked closer to see if it was Elsie. From previous experience during an ill-advised youthful trip to Vegas with a former friend, he knew that whenever someone won big, or wanted to flash the cash around, they would more than likely be at the bar. And if he were looking for a woman who made it her business to part those lucky men from their money, then the bar would be the best place to start looking for her. If it were possible the restaurant and bar area looked more opulent than the rest of the casino. The bar was black steel with a gold work top, chandeliers hung from the ceiling. Along the far wall there were several small tables, with curtains that could shut the booths off from the rest of the bar.

As he walked towards the bar, he caught his first glimpse of Elsie. Well first glimpse that wasn’t on a crowded street or walking past the opposite end of the black jack table. Her crimson hair was piled high on the top of her head with a few loose tendrils framing her face and the lace green dress seemed to cling so tight to her it appeared as though she had been poured into it. The heels only served to add to the image. Charles couldn’t help but imagine what the heels would feel like sliding close to important parts of his anatomy with her legs locked around his waist, head thrown back ecstasy.

He closed his eyes briefly, and pushed away any thoughts that shouldn’t be existing while on a job. The last time sex had mixed with business it had been a decidedly messy affair. If he was going to ruin her and recoup the money she had stolen from Lord Parsons, he would need a clear head. Especially, if he needed to make her fall in love with him.

With one last slight shake of his head, he smiled to himself and walked over to the bar, intent on playing up to the image of a rich businessman who had just made himself richer by sitting at a poker table.

“Bottle of your finest champagne and something for yourself,” Charles said as he signalled the bartender and took a seat next to Elsie. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that she had snapped her head up and was watching him closely.

“That would be the Krug 1996 Clos D’Ambonnay sir,” the bartender replied “one of Ambonnay’s rarest champagnes with only 3,000 bottle produced every few years. A steal at £1, 500,” he added.

“Perfect,” Charles replied.

“Cash, card or account sir?”

“Card” he commented and handed over the card that he used exclusively for cases, making sure to discreetly flash some of the cash he’d won in Elsie’s direction.

“Lucky break?”

“Something like that,” Charles smiled as he tried to ignore the low, seductive quality of the Scottish burr. Tried not to imagine how it would feel to hear her moan his name against his ear, “would you care to join me?”

“I’d love to,” she replied as Charles signalled the bartender to bring two glasses. Elsie watched as he placed two glasses on the bar, and opened the champagne for them, “do I at least get to know the name of the man I’m drinking with?” she asked as she rested her chin in her palm and watched him pour her a glass. She may already know his name courtesy of a coat check boy, but she still had a role to play.

“Charles Carson,” he replied as he slid a glass over to her, watching as she took a sip, before she ran a finger down the stem of the glass, “and might I know your name?” he asked, _‘as though I don’t already know’_ he finished mentally.

“Elsie Hughes,” she smiled, “didn’t I see you yesterday?” she asked as she took another sip of champagne (at £1,500 a bottle, she wasn’t going to drink it like the Moet she was used to) “at the black jack table?”

“You did,” Charles nodded, as he schooled his features into a more humble expression, “lost a couple of grand,” he shrugged like it was no big deal. He was lying of course, but she didn’t need to know he had only been playing with a pittance. “Tonight I was far luckier.”

“Well at this price, you’d have to have been,” she laughed.

The rest of the evening passed by in a blur. Over the remaining champagne they had talked about their jobs. Elsie had kept to the truth, and told Charles about her job at the education centre. Charles on the other hand, had told her about his work as an ‘advisor’ to businesses. Which wasn’t strictly a lie, he did advise businesses and people. It was normally after a week or two of heavy tailing and research. Charles had kept his responses vague and he had led her to believe it was in the financial sector that his business lay.

“Not boring you am I?” Charles joked as he watched her check her watch again.

“No,” Elsie smiled, “I’ve got a meeting in the morning and I need to go,” she added apologetically.

“That’s a shame,” he commented “would you like to meet me for dinner sometime this week? Tomorrow night?”

“Busy,” Elsie replied, only half serious. There was nothing to pressing. Nothing that couldn’t be rearranged, but she was not planning on coming across as too eager. She was planning on remaining in control. “I’m free Friday.”

“Friday,” he nodded, knowing exactly the kind of game she was playing. Lord Parsons had told him that she preferred the men to do the chasing, liked to be in control, pull their strings. He watched as she scrawled her number on a napkin from the bar, and passed it over to him.

“Call me with a time and place,” Elsie smiled as she stood up from the stool and began walking away, counting down in her head, _‘5, 4, 3, 2...’_

“At least let me walk you out,” Charles said as he caught up with her.

As they exited the casino, both felt the summer evening chill. Charles looked at Elsie out of the corner of his eye. She had pulled her wrap tighter around her, in an effort to ward off the chill. He also watched as she unpinned her hair and let it fall to frame her face. A small part of him, couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like if they had met under different circumstances. Charles squashed that thought quickly, it would not do to let sentiment creep into this case. Not when he needed to stay focused. Which is why he was also trying to pointedly ignore the thought of what her hair would look like fanned out beneath her on his pillow.

“You sure you don’t want me to give you a lift home?” Charles asked as his car pulled up.

“Quite,” Elsie replied, “a taxi is just fine,” she added, “besides, I can’t destroy all mystery surrounding me just yet,” she finished with a teasing smile.

“Maybe after dinner on Friday?”

“Maybe,” she smiled, before she pressed a kiss to his cheek and walked towards the taxi rank.

As she reached the waiting taxi, Elsie turned to look behind her, and saw that Charles was still stood watching her. She raised a hand in a wave, and smiled as he returned the gesture. As they were both driven away in different directions, both thought the exact same thing; _this is going to be far too easy_.


	5. Chapter 5

Elsie turned around and looked at the dress from every angle. She had been unsure of it when she’d tried it on in the fitting room at House of Fraser, but now she saw that she had made the right choice. The dress was midnight blue, was fairly tight fitting and in a draped style. Unlike the other night when she had worn her hair up, this time she had decided to leave it loose. This time it hung in loose waves that framed her face. Either way she knew that it would be suitable enough for the restaurant. They would be having dinner at The OXO Tower Restaurant. She had researched it when Charles had called her to let her know where they would be going, and had liked the look of it. Especially, as it provided some stunning views of London. 

Within minutes of meeting one of her ‘marks’ she could normally pin down just exactly what they liked best in women and would use that to her advantage over the following months. However, with Charles she still hadn’t figured him out, figured what kind of woman she should be for him. Unlike Oliver and a few others she’d ‘dated’ in the past he didn’t seem to be the flashy type. The type that was very much ‘look at me, look at what I have’ and for that she was glad. Elsie was fairly sure she’d go crazy if she had to deal with someone like that again. Not for the first time, Elsie wondered if it was nearing time to ‘retire’ from this lifestyle. The only thing that stood in her way was Richard Carlisle and his blackmailing.

The sound of her phone ringing, pulled her out of her thoughts. For a moment she worried it was Richard, but smiled when she saw who it was.

“Hello darling,” Elsie said as she answered the phone, “how was your trip to York?”

-x-x-x-

“So tell me about this woman,” Beryl asked “is it serious?”

“Beryl, I’ve only just met her,” Charles replied. He neglected to mention the fact that he was only seeing her in relation to one of his cases. Purely because he knew she wouldn’t approve. Not after the last time.

“Well Lord knows you could do with someone,” Beryl commented, “I hope this won’t turn out to be another Alice situation. I don’t want any more calls from hospitals about you.”

“Yes mum,” he replied sarcastically, despite the fact she was only three years older than him, she always did mother him a bit too much.

“Now you should wear that grey suit of yours, a white shirt with a few buttons open and no tie,” Beryl said, “and don’t forget to take her flowers and use…”

“I’m going to have to go now,” Charles interrupted before she could go onto a long thing about his date. “I’ll call round and see you all on Sunday,” he added. 

As he pressed the end call button, Charles wearily rubbed a hand across his face. He loved his sister, she just didn’t know where to stop sometimes. He didn’t need all the advice she was offering. All he needed to do was figure out exactly how he was going to ruin her. His current plan was to date her for a while, and make her fall in love with him. Charles was just unsure of how long the plan was going to last and whether or not Lord Parsons would be willing to foot the expenses bill if it ran over what he was currently estimating.

Despite the annoyance at Beryl’s advice, Charles had to admit her opinion on what to wear was spot on. He had already decided to wear his grey suit, so all he had to do was remove the tie and undo a few buttons. He also couldn’t believe that she had told him to take flowers with him. It was as though he was completely clueless. He had already called a florist, and the chauffeur would pick them up for him on his way. He only hoped that she actually liked the selection he had chosen. At this thought, Charles shook his head. It may be a first date of sorts, but not a first date like he was used to. This time there would be an agenda behind everything. On both sides.

-x-x-x-

The car weaved through the traffic by Clapham Junction as it made its way towards Severus Road. The one thing that Charles hated about London was the traffic, and from what he’d gleamed from previous meetings, Elsie didn’t seem like the type of woman who would enjoy the traffic either. Thankfully, despite the amount of cars, they seemed to move quite quickly and they soon pulled up outside a townhouse that had been split into three separate flats. Charles got out of the car, and rang the bell for 4a.

At the sound of the doorbell, Elsie picked up her bag and hurried outside. Instead of seeing the taxi like she was expecting, she saw Charles waiting for her, beside a car and felt her lips turn up in a smile.

“So this is why you wanted to know my address?” Elsie asked as she leant against the door frame, “And there I was thinking you wanted to send me flowers.”

“Well I did bring you these,” Charles replied holding out a large bouquet of mixed flowers. It included pink alstroemeria, green carnations, cerise germinis, yellow Asiatic lilies, orange large-headed roses and green spray chrysanthemums with pittosporum and sala.

“They’re beautiful, thank you,” she smiled, and bit her lip, as she tried to remember the last time someone had brought her flowers. For a moment, Elsie wondered what this would be like if this was a normal date and she wasn’t going to swindle him in the future, “I’ll just go put these in some water,” she added as she turned around and walked back inside. 

Charles watched as she walked away and smiled. For a moment, Charles regretted the way that this would end the way it would. Despite everything, despite what she did, he sensed that she was essentially a decent woman. He shook his head and pushed the thought away as he saw her walking back towards him.

“I have to admit, I didn’t picture you living here,” Charles commented as he held the door open for her, “isn’t it annoying having Clapham Junction just over the road?”

“No,” she replied as she got in the car, “I use it a lot,” she added.

If Charles hoped that she would elaborate he was mistaken. 

-x-x-x-

“Have you ever been here before?” Elsie asked as they were shown to their table.

“No,” he replied, “A colleague mentioned it to me,” he added. It wasn’t exactly a lie, John had told him about this restaurant and John was somewhat a colleague. As their waiter left them with their menus, both looked out of the window. The table they had been sat at provided them with views over the Bankside Pier, and St. Paul’s in the distance. 

“I love London at night,” Elsie sighed, “but you know these views are nothing like the ones of the night sky in Brighton.”

“I know what you mean,” Charles replied, “You should see them from the hills in Yorkshire.” 

“Long way from Yorkshire aren’t you?” she laughed, as the image of a young Charles running through the fields of Yorkshire ran through her mind.

“You can talk,” he replied, “Scotland is further away than Yorkshire,” he added, “so what’s in Brighton?”

“Why?” she asked. Charles noted the defensive tone in her voice, and guessed there was something or someone there that she was protecting.

“You mentioned it earlier and I just wondered,” he shrugged.

“I go to Brighton quite a bit that’s all,” Elsie replied with a tight smile. Charles sensed that it wouldn’t be wise to push her further. He didn’t want his plans to fall apart. “Sorry,” she added sheepishly, “I’d just like to keep that to myself,” she finished, reaching across and touching his hand lightly.

“I understand,” he smiled, turning his hand over under hers and stroking her palm lightly, “I’ve heard that the house wine is very good, would you like a glass of it?” he asked as the waiter approached their table.

“That would be lovely.”

As they slipped into silence, both regarded the person sat opposite. Both were trying to figure out how best to play the other and use these new insights to their advantage. Yet at the same time, neither was actually sure that they wanted to use them.

-x-x-x-

Throughout dinner, the conversation between them flowed easily. Elsie was impressed by the fact that Charles knew exactly which wines would compliment their chosen meals. Especially the ‘09 Margaux which complimented the Chateaubriand perfectly.

“Wine is something of a passion of mine,” Charles had replied when she’d asked him about it, “my father and grandfather were both adept at selecting wines, and I guess I just got the bug as they say,” he’d laughed.

Both found the food and wine, so rich and filling that they decided to forego the dessert and take a walk along the South Bank. Elsie had wanted to split the cost of the bill, but Charles insisted on paying for everything. She may be a woman of independent means, but she couldn’t deny it felt nice to have someone willing to take care of her. Or at least treat her to dinner out.

As they left the building, they began to walk back along the South Bank in the direction of Westminster Bridge and the London Eye. They walked side by side, their hands occasionally brushing. After several instances of this, Elsie just decided to bite the bullet and took his hand in hers. At the first touch, both shared a shy smile, before they turned their attention back to the direction they were walking in. As they walked, both shared the same thought. Both found themselves thinking that this was moving along swimmingly and that when it was all over they would emerge victorious.

They stopped for a moment by Waterloo Bridge and looked out across the river.

“This is one of my favourite places in London,” Elsie commented as she leant against the railings and looked towards the National Theatre.

“How so?”

“The South Bank Book Market, is right here,” she replied indicating the section of pavement that was under an arch of the bridge, “I’ve found a few hidden treasures here in my time I can tell you.”

Charles smiled in reply. He could just imagine her perusing the books and the way her eyes would more than likely light up if she found something very rare. Or a book she’d spent ages looking for.

"You know, this just reminds me of a favourite song of mine,” Charles commented

“Oh yes?” Elsie smiled folding her arms and regarding him with an amused smirk.

“Hmm,” he nodded “ _Waterloo Sunset_ by The Kinks,” he elaborated before humming the opening bars.

“You’re not going to sing for me?” she teased.

“I wouldn’t want to scare you off,” Charles laughed as they linked arms and resumed walking. Both couldn’t help but wonder if they had just caught a small glimpse at a part of the other that they were currently keeping hidden.

-x-x-x-

“Thank you for a lovely evening,” Elsie commented as they stood on the front steps of her flat.

“Thank you for the company,” he smiled, “we should do it again sometime,” he added putting the right amount of nervousness into his voice.

“Yes, we should,” Elsie replied before using the fact that she was on the top step and the extra height it gave her to her advantage.

She smiled at him briefly, before she leant in and pressed her lips against his. It only lasted a second and Charles barely had time to register it was happening before she pulled back. They stared at each other for a moment, before he leaned in and caught her lips in another kiss. After a moment or two, the kiss deepened, with Elsie’s arms coming to rest around his neck while he put his arms around her middle and pulled her closer to him.

“Would you like to come in?” she asked with an amused smirk and raised eyebrow when they broke apart.

“Not tonight,” he replied, despite everything inside of him telling him to accept the offer. His plan was still in its initial stages and he needed to keep a clear head. Sex would only complicate matters. And he wasn’t quite ready to go down that road again.

Elsie was shocked for a moment, and if she was honest a little hurt at the rejection, as well as impressed that he had chosen to not take the opportunity. However, she didn’t show it on her face and instead chose a more neutral look. Clearly Charles was different from the others and the thought both intrigued and frustrated her.

“Then I’ll say goodnight,” Elsie replied as she pulled her keys out of her bag and turned to unlock the door.

She had the key in the lock when she felt his hand on her hip, and he turned her to face him. Before she had a chance to ask what he wanted, Charles pulled her flush against him and kissed her deeply. As they broke apart, Elsie was glad that she had moved her hands to rest on his shoulders as she might have stumbled a bit.

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” Charles smiled before he walked back down the front steps.

Elsie smiled in reply before she let herself into her flat, still feeling a little confused. She still hadn’t got him figured out. When he had declined her offer, she had figured he was one of those slightly old fashioned men. However, after that goodbye kiss, she wasn’t sure old fashioned was the right way to describe him. Shaking her head, she threw her handbag down on the sofa and walked towards the kitchen. She needed a large drink.

Charles watched as a light came on in one of the windows. He could make out her silhouette as she picked up the flowers he had given her earlier and smelt them. Charles smiled to himself and walked back towards the car.

‘ _I think you’re already falling in love with me,’_ Charles thought as the car drove away. For some reason, the thought both made him smile and feel completely terrified at the same time.


	6. Chapter 6

Charles drummed his fingers against his desk as he waited for Lord Parsons to arrive. It had been six days since he had last seen Elsie and he couldn’t put a name to the feeling he had. He had yet to figure out why the fact that he hadn’t seen her, left a hole deep inside of him. A hole that was only filled when he called her. Elsie never called him. He was always the one that had to call or text. It had led him to wonder if he had imagined the fact that she was starting to fall for him. He really didn’t like not knowing. As a Private Investigator, it was his job to know everything. 

Charles was pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of a knock on his office door. He looked up to see Lord Parsons stood there. 

“Come in Lord Parsons,” Charles said as he stood up and indicated the chair opposite him, “can I get you a drink?”

“If it’s not a problem.”

“Not at all,” Charles commented as he poured them both a scotch before he sat back down, “now, Lor…”

“Please,” he interrupted, “call me Oliver. I get enough of Lord Parsons at the office,” he added.

“Of course,” Charles smiled, “and how is business?”

“Well after that stink when we closed down that care home in Brighton last October,” Oliver replied, “we’re back on track with the development,” he added as he took a sip of scotch.

“What about the residents that were there?” Charles asked, his mother had been in one for the last few years of her life and he couldn’t imagine what it would be like, if it had been closed down on them. 

“Do you know, I never really asked,” he replied, “nor do I care,” he added, “so how is your plan coming along?”

“It’s going swimmingly,” Charles replied, “originally I thought about just going straight for the jugular and taking back the money she stole, but now, I’ve got a slightly better one.”

“Go on,” Oliver prompted, leaning forward slightly.

“It’s simple really, just taking the money won’t be enough to ruin her,” Charles replied, “so I’m going to do exactly what she does. I’m going to ‘date’ her, make her fall in love with me and then take the money.”

Oliver sat back in his chair and regarded Charles for a moment as he finished off his drink. He let the plan swirl around in his head, biting back a smile at the thought of Elsie being ruined. 

"That is…,”Oliver began, “quite a plan, think you can pull it off?”

“I believe so,” Charles replied. He deliberately ignored the worried feeling in the pit of his stomach. Worries had no place in any of his plans. He may lose a few small battles, but in the end, he knew he would come out on top. For some reason, the thought of winning, didn’t make him smile like it used to.

“Well then, you must allow me to pay for any expenses you incur on top of your fee for your services,” Oliver commented, “anything you need I’ll cover,” he added, “you won’t have any problems fake dating her?”

“No,” Charles replied, “I’m a heartless bastard,” he added, not really sure the statement was true anymore.

-x-x-x-

“Did the transfer go through alright?” Elsie asked as she walked down the street, “oh good, I always worry that it won’t go through. How’s Katie doing? I worry about all the upheaval I’ve caused her. Well that’s good to hear…yes I’ll be coming to Brighton soon. I’m thinking the weekend of the 15th that is the weekend of the Brunswick festival isn’t it?” she asked as she pushed open the doors to the education centre, “ok good. Yes, yes she rung the other day. Told me all about your trip to York. Was it alright? I know she can be a bit tricky in new places…alright, well, I’ll see you in a couple of weeks,” she finished as she ended the call, feeling no less guilty than she had ten months ago when the arrangement had first been made.

Elsie put her phone back in her bag, and walked towards the small canteen at the back of the building. She was in serious need of a cup of tea. As she turned a corner, she found herself face to face with one of her students.

“Oh I’m so sorry Elsie,” Edith said as she looked up from her folder.

“Think nothing of it,” she smiled, “how are you today?”

“I’m good,” she replied, “have you looked over my short story yet?”

“I have, and I liked it very much,” Elsie smiled encouragingly, “would you like be one of the ones to read out their work today?”

“No thank you, that level of attention isn’t really who I am,” Edith smiled, before she excused herself from the conversation and hurried off.

Half an hour later, Elsie was sat behind her desk in the classroom waiting for the class to arrive. It was a fairly large class, by the centres standards, most classes had 15 at most, hers had almost double and a waiting list for the September course. The majority of adults in her creative writing class were those that felt they had a story inside them that they wanted to tell but just didn’t have the confidence to actually start it. After the first two times she had taken this class, Elsie had settled into a pattern with her classes. She would spend the three quarters of an hour, showing them various literary techniques complete with examples. Elsie would then let them have an hour to try and write something, before finishing off with people reading out what they had written.

“Alright,” she said as the last student walked in and closed the door behind them, “today, we’re going to look at how to create atmosphere.”

-x-x-x-

Charles read the instructions Beryl had sent over. Normally, Charles was a straight up microwavable meal kind of guy, but tonight was different. Before he had left his office, Lord Parsons had given Charles a few ideas for things that Elsie might like. One of these was a candlelit dinner, which was exactly what Charles was doing. He had checked the weather for that evening, and on seeing that it would a perfect summer evening, Charles had set about arranging for dinner on his private roof terrace.

He looked at the ingredients that were laid out from the Rib-eye steaks to the vegetables and prayed that Elsie liked what he was planning. From what little he had gleamed in their conversations, he knew that she generally preferred something simple in the way of home cooking, so Charles felt like he had a good chance. He was about to start seasoning the steaks when there was a knock on the door.

“Anna?” he asked when he opened the door to see, John’s wife stood there with several bags in her hand. He had always liked Anna, she was good for John and had managed to calm him down a lot.

“John mentioned your little plan,” Anna replied, as she walked straight past him, and towards the kitchen area, “while I can’t say I agree with it, I can help you create a little romantic atmosphere,” she added, “so where are you having the dinner?” she asked as she looked over the meal he had been about to prepare.

“On the terrace,” he replied, “how are you anyway?”

“I’m good, fretting about Poppy starting school full time in September,” Anna replied as she pulled out a couple of crystal cut wine glasses encased in bubble wrap from one of the bags and placed them on the side, “I can just about manage when she goes off to nursery for the mornings,” she added with a smile, “you should come around and see her soon, she keeps asking when Uncle Charlie is coming to play again,” she finished as she leant against the counter.

“I’ll call around soon,” Charles promised, “now what else did you have in mind?”

An hour later, Charles had to admit, that Anna’s help had come in useful. She had wrapped fairy lights around the medium height plants and twisted a few around the balcony. She had also placed two candlesticks on either side of the table. Anna had also loaned him some of the china pieces that she and John used when they had her parents around for dinner. Charles was under strict instructions to return it one piece. He had also been told that if there was so much as one scratch on them, it would be the last thing he would ever do.

All Charles had to do now was hope that Elsie would actually come when he asked her. Something he actually had yet to do. He pulled his phone out and let his finger hover over Elsie’s name. He almost pressed the call button, before remembering how she had told him, that spontaneous dates were her favourite. Charles resumed scrolling through his phone until he found the name of chauffeur.

-x-x-x-

Elsie picked up her bag and closed the door behind her. As she walked down the corridor, Elsie waved at the few of her students that were still loitering around the education centre.  She was about to walk down the stairs when Sarah caught up with her.

“Oh Elsie, I’ve been looking for you,” she said.

“Why?” she asked turning to face her boss.

“I was just wondering if you’d thought any more on which two evenings you want to hold the writing class, come September.”

“I have,” Elsie replied, “I was thinking Tuesdays and Thursdays, is that alright?”

“That’s fine,” Sarah replied, “we’ll talk more at the staff meeting next week,” she added before she turned around and walked back to her office.

As she hurried down the stairs, Elsie heard her phone signal that she had a message. She pulled it out and saw it was from Charles.

‘ _Dinner. Tonight. My Place. Car’s waiting.’_

Elsie found herself smiling as she read it. This is good, she thought, he’s using his initiative instead of making me decide when and where we meet. She put her phone back in her bag, and walked outside. As she pushed open the front door, she saw a sleek, black car with a chauffeur stood by the door.

“Ms Hughes,” he said as he held the door open for her. 

“Thank you,” she replied as she got into the car.

Elsie watched as London passed by in a blur. It wasn’t often she got to see London in this way. She normally went by underground and in the opposite direction to the one she was travelling in now. As they drove past the Tower of London, Elsie couldn’t help but smile as she remembered when she had gone ice skating there two Christmases back with Becky and Katie. She made a mental note to check to see if it would be back again this Christmas. 

Five minutes later, the car came to a stop outside a six storey building with a small pub next to it on St. Katherine’s Wharf. Elsie got out of the car and looked up at the building wondering which one was Charles’. Especially as she didn’t want to press every single buzzer on the entry pad. She was saved from wondering however, by Charles coming to stand in the doorway.

"Glad you could join me,” he smiled as he held out a hand to her.

“Well if you hadn’t suggested dinner it would have been take out,” Elsie replied as she took his hand and followed him inside. 

They didn’t talk as they rode in the lift up to the fifth floor. Both were extremely aware that this was the first time they’d been in close contact since last Friday. Sure they had spoken on the phone but they hadn’t actually seen each other in about a week. Both were shocked to realise that they had actually missed each other.

Charles led her down the corridor towards the front door. He unlocked the door and pushed it open to let her in. He then led her around the apartment, giving her the tour. He showed her the two bedrooms (Elsie did wonder if she’d get to try out the mattress at some point), the kitchen area with all the mod cons and the large open plan living room that had doors that opened up onto the private roof terrace. Charles led her up the two steps and out onto the roof terrace where she saw a table set for two, overlooking the Thames, Tower Bridge in the background.

“Your seat milady,” Charles said as he pulled out one of the chairs for her.

Elsie smiled at him, and bit her lip as she sat down. As she watched Charles pour her a glass of wine, she wondered what the rest of the evening would bring.


	7. Chapter 7

_Charles led her up the two steps and out onto the roof terrace where she saw a table set for two, overlooking the Thames, Tower Bridge in the background._

“ _Your seat milady,” Charles said as he pulled out one of the chairs for her._

_Elsie smiled at him, and bit her lip as she sat down. As she watched Charles pour her a glass of wine, she wondered what the rest of the evening would bring._

The sun was low, and peeked out from behind Tower Bridge as Elsie looked out over the London skyline, and took a sip from her glass of wine. She usually preferred a white wine, but she had to admit the Pinot Noir was a change. A candlelit dinner on a roof terrace was also a welcome change. Especially as Charles seemed to be intent on impressing her, rather than showing off what his wealth had brought him. Normally, she had always gone in with a reason for why they deserved to be scammed. This time though, there was no reason, Charles just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Or the wrong place at the wrong time as Thomas had referred to it on more than one occasion. She turned her head to look inside and saw Charles moving around the kitchen. She stood up from the table and walked into the kitchen carrying her glass with her. 

He heard the sound of her heels against the floor as she walked into the kitchen, but didn’t look up. Charles figured she was out for attention, and was not going to rise to it. At the sound of heeled shoes, being dropped against the hard wood floor of the kitchen, Charles looked up from what he was doing to see Elsie sat on one of the counters, glass of wine to her left and regarding him closely. He noticed that her toenails were painted a bright yellow, something he hadn’t expected.

“Comfortable?” he asked.

“Very,” Elsie replied as she picked up her glass, “so,” she began as she traced a finger up the stem of the wine glass, “is this how you woo all your women?”

Charles let out a short laugh in reply.

“It’s been a long time since I wooed anyone,” he replied, “I’ve never found a woman that could be worth the effort,” he added.

“And now?” Elsie asked.

“Maybe I have,” he replied, carefully choosing the right words for the situation. 

‘ _Oh I love it when they think it’s going to be a long term thing,’_ she thought as she took another sip of wine. “Can I help with anything?”

“I think I’ve got everything covered,” he replied, as he took the wine glass from her hands before he leaned in and kissed her lightly. Elsie smiled into the kiss and moved her arms to rest around his neck, in an effort to deepen it. He gladly took the hint and deepened it briefly before pulling back, “no more of that thank you,” Charles smiled, “I don’t want to be ruining dinner as a result of your distractions.”

“So I’m a distraction am I?” she teased.

“Of the best kind,” he smiled back.

He turned his attention back to the meal he was preparing all the while keeping a watch on her out of the corner of his eye. He saw Elsie duck her head slightly, and could just about see a tell-tale hint of blush as it spread across her cheeks. In that moment Charles couldn’t help but think he had never seen anything more beautiful.

An hour later, Charles had been proved wrong with his thoughts about how beautiful she looked. They were sat out on the roof terrace, enjoying their dinner, and he had looked up at the same moment a ray of setting sun had caught Elsie and enveloped her in a golden glow. The glow made her red hair, look fierier than usual. Not for the first time, Charles wondered what it would be like to run his fingers through it as he held her close and whispered sweet nothings into her ear.

“So how long have you lived here?” Elsie asked breaking through his thoughts.

“I brought it while they were developing the building,” Charles replied, “I had intended to rent it out but when it was completed, I loved the view so I decided to keep it for myself,” he added, “how long have you had your flat?”

“About fifteen years,” she replied, “I brought it outright when I…” she tailed off. Her thoughts turning briefly to the past and how it all began. Sometimes she wondered what that twenty seven year old woman would think if she could see herself now, “I’m sorry,” she smiled sheepishly, “like I said I’ve had it fifteen years.”

“A long time then,” Charles commented, choosing not to push further, she would tell him when she was ready.

Charles internally shook his head at that thought, he had no actual right for her to tell him anything. Even if she did want to tell him, Charles knew that currently Elsie had no way of knowing if she could trust him. He couldn’t help but think how ironic that was. He wanted her to trust him, to reveal her secrets. Yet at the same time, he felt a curious need to tell her not to trust him. That there was a strong chance that potentially two hearts could get broken as a result of this game of theirs.

“Do you always cook like this?” she asked indicating the steaks with home-made chips with salad and vegetables on the side.

“No, I’m normally a ready prepared meal kind of man,” he replied, “my sister is the chef in the family,” he added, “she owns a little bakery on Ealing Broadway,” he added, “she was the one who gave me the recipe for tonight.”

Elsie smiled at this, wondering why she felt happy about the fact that he had already told his sister about them even though they weren’t actually a couple. Not yet at any rate.

“Do you have any siblings?”

“One,” Elsie replied, “Becky.”

Sensing that he wouldn’t get any more out of her with regards to her sister (her tone had been one of finality), Charles smiled at her before turning his attention to the skyline.

“Do you like heights?” he asked with a smile.

“Why?”

“Because I’m going to take you there one day,” he replied pointing at a spot behind her head. Elsie turned her head around to look where Charles was pointing and realised what building he meant, “it has lovely views from floor 72 and several fantastic restaurants,” he added.

“Do you work for The Shard as well?”

“No, I’ve done a few business meetings there, and thought you might like it.”

“Well, if I did have a problem with heights,” Elsie began, “I guess I could always hold your hand to feel steady,” she smiled as she took a sip of wine.

-x-x-x-x-

As the car weaved through the traffic back towards her flat, Elsie couldn’t help but let her mind wander back over their goodbye. It had been practically a week since they had first met, and three dates if you included their first meeting at the Casino. Yet Charles still hadn’t made a move. On the one hand admired his respect for her, it made a change from the others that she‘d ‘dated‘. But on the other hand she did feel like yelling ‘it’s the twenty first century for Christ’s sake’. However, she had felt Charles’ reaction to her and prayed it wouldn’t be too long before his restraint broke. Resting her head against the back of the leather seat, Elsie closed her eyes and relived the memory of the later part of the evening:

_The sun had set completely, leaving an inky blackness in its wake, not that they noticed. They had been sat side by side on one of the sofas on the terrace and then one kiss had turned into two. By the third (or it may have been the fourth they had rather lost count), Elsie had found herself in Charles’ lap, legs either side of his hips, arms around his neck. Elsie’s smile turned to a gasp as she felt his hands undo a couple of buttons on the back of her dress and slip a hand inside. Her gasp turned to a moan when his lips found a particularly sensitive spot just behind her ear. She moved her hands from his hair and moved them to the buttons of his shirt. Elsie’s hands made quick work of undoing them and slipped her hands inside._

“ _What?” Elsie asked as she felt him still beneath her._

“ _We should stop,” Charles replied, pulling back to look in her eyes._

“ _What if I don’t want to?” she challenged. She could feel his reaction to her and could tell that he wanted this as much as she did._

“ _All the same,” he replied, as he moved to button his shirt up, “I think its too soon for this.”_

“ _Alright,” Elsie sighed, “some other night then,” she added as she climbed off of his lap and stood up. As she did so, she felt the cool night air on her back and realised the back of her dress was still open. She reached her hands around and began to do up the buttons._

“ _Let me,” Charles commented, as he moved behind her and swiftly buttoned the dress back up, before pressing a light kiss to the nape of her neck, “I‘m sorry.”_

“ _Don’t be,” she smiled as she turned to face him, “I think,” she added, taking a step closer and letting her hands rest on his shoulders, “that you’re going to be worth the wait,” she finished before she kissed him chastely._

She was pulled out of her reminiscing by the car coming to a stop. She raised her head from the seat, and looked out of the window to see that they had pulled up outside of her flat.

“Here we are miss,” the chauffeur said as he held open the door for her.

“Thank you,” she smiled as she got out of the car, “what’s your name?” Elsie asked, “you’ve driven me around several parts of London, I think it’s only fair.”

“It’s Adam, miss.”

“Well thank you Adam,” Elsie commented, “I hope it wasn’t too long of a wait while we had dinner.”

“It wasn’t, I picked my daughter up from a friends house,” he replied, “I just had to be in the general vicinity around half past ten,” he shrugged.

“Seems like a pretty easy job,” she laughed as she walked up the steps to her front door, “I’ll probably see you soon.”

“I daresay you will,” Adam replied, “Mr Carson seems pretty taken with you.”

Elsie smiled to herself. One half was rejoicing at the fact that her plan was working and another half, the part she’d kept locked away for a long time was starting to wake up.

-x-x-x-x-

Charles leant against the railings of the roof terrace and looked out over the London skyline. Tonight had shown him that there was definitely something brewing between them that he could exploit in his plan. For some reason, Charles couldn’t help but feel a little weary at the thought of exploiting her, or anything he might be beginning to feel. The way they had said goodnight had left him in no doubt of that. It had also left Charles thinking on whether or not he should start mixing business with pleasure once again. He knew it wouldn’t end the same way it had ended last time. At least, he hoped that it wouldn’t end the same way. He sighed to himself, and knew something he could do.

He pulled out his phone and looked for Robert’s number, hoping he was still awake.

“Hello?”

“Hi Robert, its Charles, I’m not calling too late am I?”

“Not at all,” Robert replied, “what can I do for you?”

“Are you and Cora still hosting that weekend over the bank holiday?”

“We are,” Robert confirmed, “it’s changed a little though. We’re no longer shooting, and it’s no longer a theme weekend, but it’s still going on. Why are you coming?”

“Yes,” Charles replied, “and I’ll be bringing a guest. Only one room required.”

“That’s wonderful,” Robert exclaimed, “I’ll let Cora know.”

“You mentioned changes?”

“Ah yes, right, the weekend clashes with Cora’s annual charity ball for the York General Hospital, which we host at the house, so the final night of the weekend will be the ball, which you’re automatically invited to. And on the Saturday, we’re heading over to the Ripon racetrack for a day at the races, instead of shooting.”

“That sounds fine,” Charles replied, “there is one thing that you should know.”

“What?” Robert asked.

“Elsie, she doesn’t know what I do for a living, so can you not tell her?” Charles asked hopefully. It wouldn’t do to have his cover blown, as by then, he would have put a lot of time into this case.

“Isn’t that a touch dishonest?”

“I want to be sure about her, before I say anything,” Charles lied, saying all the words expected of him. Though there was a part of him that didn’t want to hurt her. A part of him that was thought that this relationship of sorts, could be the start of something. Something, he was a little scared at the thought of.


	8. Chapter 8

To say she was nervous would be an understatement. Elsie had never been the biggest fan of heights. Whenever she flew anywhere she always chose a middle seat or aisle seat, never one near a window. She would also refuse to go higher than the 10th floor of an apartment block or a high rise office building. Now she was about to go up to the seventy second floor of a building made entirely out of glass, where the highest floor they could reach was slightly open to the elements as well. Elsie couldn’t be entirely sure that she hadn’t lost her mind. She tilted her head back, and looked up at the top of the Shard. Charles moved to stand behind her and placed a hand on her waist.

“You alright?” he asked.

“A little nervous,” she replied as she tilted her head back down to face him, “I’ve never been that good with heights.”

Charles gave her hip a reassuring squeeze before he pressed a kiss to her temple. He then moved his hand so it was entwined with hers before he led her towards the entrance.

An hour later, Elsie was stood looking out over London from the 72nd floor of The Shard. They had started out on floor 68 and had slowly made their way up to the highest floor they could, taking as much time as they could Even though heights weren’t something she liked, she couldn’t help but be blown away from the view. 

As it had been a nice day, they were able to see 40 miles away and as they had got an evening viewing time, they had the perfect vantage point to watch the golden rays of the lowering sun. Elsie jumped slightly as Charles came up behind her and slipped his arms around her waist. 

“How do you feel?” he asked.

“Amazed,” she replied, as she leaned back against him, resting her head on his shoulder, “how many people can see London this way?”

“Anyone who pays the ticket price,” Charles quipped tightening his hold on her as a large breeze whipped through the viewing platform and the building swayed imperceptibly. Elsie turned her head slightly and pressed a light kiss to his cheek. At the same time she couldn’t help but think how perfect this moment was. 

-x-x-

The drive back to Elsie’s flat was a quiet one. Elsie had settled herself near enough on his lap and had rested her head against Charles’ shoulder, while he ran his fingers lightly across her arm. Since their al fresco dinner on his roof terrace last week, Charles had been wondering whether or not it was time to mix business and pleasure again. The last time he had, Charles had received a bullet to the side for his trouble. This time around he knew…or at least hoped that Elsie would not be another Alice situation. He didn’t think it would be. Mainly as this time, Elsie hadn’t come to him needing his help. She was a target in a manner of speaking, and if he was to carry on with this fake dating pretence sooner or later, she would expect him to sleep with her or at least make a move. If he was honest with himself, Charles had been wanting to cross that line since he had first laid eyes on her in the casino. That first spark of lust had ignited deep inside him. The fact that she was a target just fanned the flames higher.

“You’ve been awfully quiet tonight,” Elsie commented as the car came to a stop.

“Just thinking,” he replied as he got out of the car and helped her out.

"Anything I can help with?” she asked as she stroked her fingers along the inside of his wrist.

“Maybe,” he smiled, before he leant in and kissed her.

Automatically, Elsie’s arms came to rest around his neck, as it deepened. Charles moved his hands so that they were at her hips, fingers gently stroking underneath the bottom of her shirt and touching the warm skin of her lower back. Both sensed a shift in the atmosphere between them. As though tonight would be a turning point for them and their fledging relationship.

“Do you want to come in?” she asked when they broke apart. Charles couldn’t help but react to the low seductive quality in her Scottish burr. 

“Oh God yes,” he rumbled.

Elsie smiled at him as she pulled out her front door keys, and hurried up the front steps. As she fumbled with the lock and the key, she felt Charles come up behind her and started to place kisses along her neck. She couldn’t help the moan that rose up as his lips closed around a particularly sensitive spot. At the same moment, she smiled as the key finally clicked in the lock. She quickly pushed the door open and pulled out the keys at the same time. Elsie barely had time to place her keys on the table, before Charles turned her back to face him and kissed her deeply as he kicked the door shut behind them. 

-x-

Elsie allowed herself a sigh of satisfaction as she closed the suitcase. For once, she had managed to organise herself and would not be leaving the packing until the last minute. She carried the suitcase into the hall, and placed it by the hallway table, so she could just pick it up and go in the morning. Once that was done, she headed into the kitchen to make herself her customary last cup of tea. Elsie always found it the perfect accompaniment to whichever book she was reading at that moment in time.

She looked up from her book at the sound of the doorbell. She frowned as she wasn’t expecting anyone. Hardly anyone just dropped by to visit her. Except perhaps Thomas. But at this time of night, she didn’t expect it to be him. She marked the page she was on and walked out into the hallway. She pulled her dressing gown tighter around her as she switched on the light before unlocking the front door.

“What are you doing here?” she asked as she noticed Charles stood on the top step.

“Thought I would come over and say hello,” he replied as she stood aside to let him in.

“At ten pm?” 

“Yes,” Charles replied with a smile, “going somewhere?” he asked as he noticed the suitcase beside the hallway table.

“Brighton for a couple of days, it’s the Brunswick festival this weekend, and my sister loves it,” Elsie replied, “I’m driving down tomorrow.”

“Oh,” he commented, “I also came over to see if you wanted to go out this weekend.”

“Well I’m back Monday afternoon, we could have dinner then?” Elsie suggested as he pulled her closer.

“I look forward to it,” he smiled, as he moved his hands to twine with hers. “I’ll miss you, you know,” he said quietly.

Elsie lowered her head to look at the floor, if only to hide her face. She really hadn’t expected him to become this…attached to her, as quickly as this. It had only been three weeks. Usually it took them a couple of months. That particular thought unsettled her slightly, it was not the way things were supposed to go. But at the same time, she couldn’t hear any alarm bells going off in the corners of her mind or feel that anything was wrong. 

“I’ll be gone two days,” Elsie commented, looking back up at him, “surely you won’t miss me that much?”

“You clearly underestimate your hold on me, my darling,” he smiled before he leaned in and kissed her lightly, “I’ll miss you very much,” he added, not sure how many of the words – if any – were actually true and not just part of their little game.

-x-

As she pulled up outside number 17, Elsie smiled as she caught sight of Katie playing in the front garden. Despite the upheaval she worried she had brought upon the Molesley family, Elsie couldn’t help but be impressed by how easily Katie had adapted to the situation. Especially considering the fact that Katie couldn’t invite friends around like a normal seven year old could. 

“Auntie Elsie!” Katie called as she caught sight of her by the front gate, and ran down the path.

“Hello Kitty,” Elsie replied as the girl launched herself at her. She’d known Katie for most of her life, as she was a close friend of her parents and was one of the privileged few who got to call her by her nickname. “Are you looking forward to going down to the pier later?”

“Yeah, mummy said if I’m really good she’ll take me on the bumper cars and the carousel and daddy promised me he’d win me a new teddy bear.”

“Oooh you lucky girl,” Elsie smiled, “is your mummy inside?” she asked.

“Yep,” she nodded as she took Elsie’s hand, “and daddy’s out back with Auntie Becky,” she added as she hurried towards the front door, pulling Elsie with her, “mummy, Auntie Elsie’s here!” she called as she pushed open the door.

“I’d noticed,” Phyllis smiled as she came out of the kitchen, “how was the journey?”

“Same old, how’s she been the past week?”

“Mostly excited that you’re coming to stay,” she replied, “she was a little difficult yesterday but no more than usual,” Phyllis added, “she’s been helping Joe with the little vegetable patch we’ve got going.”

Elsie smiled at her friend. She’d known Phyllis for about eighteen years, since Becky had first moved into Cypress Tree Lodge. She was one of the only carers there that Becky really trusted and so after a while, it was only Phyllis (and another carer, Georgina) that looked out for her. When it had shut down last October, Elsie had asked if Phyllis would consider being Becky’s main carer. While she had been more than happy to do it, and Joseph more than supportive about, Elsie still felt guilty about it all. 

Elsie walked through the long hallway and out of the back door into the back garden. She smiled as she saw the small figure of her sister stood beside Joseph Molesley looking at a wide 3 ft. square in a far corner of the garden.  

“Are you growing carrots?” Elsie asked as she approached them.

“’Sie!” Becky called as she turned around to see Elsie stood there, “Phyll said you were coming, but she didn‘t say when,” she added as she threw her arms around her. 

Over Becky’s shoulder, she smiled at Joseph. He was a teacher at a high school in Southwick, and a cheerful chap, always with a lot of patience and a reassuring word whenever it was needed.

"Can we go down to the pier now?”

“How about we let Elsie unpack and then we’ll go to the pier,” Joseph commented at which Elsie threw him a grateful smile.

On good days, Becky’s exuberance could know no bounds, and it was often extremely tiring. She loved her sister dearly and normally her childlike demeanour was infectious. But after a drive with nothing but her thoughts to occupy her mind, Elsie needed a bit of time to get Charles Carson, and any deeper stirrings she was starting to experience out of her system.

-x-x-

As he walked towards the Bates’ pub, Charles found his thoughts turning towards Elsie. He wondered exactly what she was doing in Brighton. Just what she was doing with her sister, what parts of the festival she was enjoying best. He had been down to Brighton a few times in his life and he could just imagine Elsie stood on the pier or the sea front. The way the sea breeze would likely whip her hair around her face. Though if he knew Elsie well (and he believed he did) he imagined she would have tied it back. Still the image that burst into his mind of walking along the beach with her just wouldn’t leave him alone. He knew that at some point, he would have to suggest they took a weekend trip to the seaside. Charles was also fairly certain that if anyone was to see him at this precise moment in time, they would notice the soppy grin that had taken up residence on his face.

As he reached _The Wandering Soldier_ , Charles pushed open the side gate that closed the alley of the pub off from the street and walked towards the side door. He knocked on the door and waited for John to answer.

“I’m telling you John, this job is far too easy,” Charles commented as he sat down opposite his friend in the kitchen.

“Are you sure that’s not overconfidence talking?” John asked, he knew that Charles had a habit of talking himself up

“Not this time around,” he smiled, “Elsie Hughes is probably one of the easiest targets I’ve had. Its really not hard to pretend to be in love with her.”

_Hmm pretend_ , John thought, _if he’s pretending then I’m the bloody Queen_. John had known Charles long enough to know that look in his eye. The last time he had seen that look had been several years ago during the whole business with Alice and Grigg.

“You’ve bloody slept with her haven’t you?” John commented several moments later.

“I don’t see that, that’s any of your business,” Charles replied tersely.

“Just be careful, remember what happened with Alice.”

“This is not the same,” Charles commented, “there’s no jealous ex waiting in the wings.”

“No, just a vengeful one that wants you to ruin her,” John noted, “have you told her about the weekend at Downton yet?” he asked changing the subject.

“I was going to this weekend, but she’s gone to visit her sister in Brighton,” Charles replied, “and going by what she’s said in the past, I think there’s more to it than what she’s told me.”

-x-x-

Elsie took a deep breath as she breathed in the cool evening air. It had been a pleasant enough time down by the Marina, but all the crowds had led to Becky having one of her turns. Elsie had offered to take her back to the house to let the Molesley’s have some time to themselves. Away from the crowds, Becky had started to calm down and wanted to go back, but Elsie still took her back home, rather than risk Becky harming herself or anyone else accidentally.

She was just about to head down to the kitchen to make herself a drink, when she heard her mobile ringing. She picked it up and smiled when she saw Charles’ face on the screen.

"And what can I do for you Mr Carson?” she smiled, as she deliberately ignored the feel of butterflies that seemed to take up residence at the sound of his voice.

“Just wanted to hear your voice,” he replied, “and to tell you that this bank holiday, I’m whisking you away for the weekend.”

“Oh you are, are you?” she teased

“Yes,” Charles commented “some friends of mine, Robert and Cora Crawley, have a country house in Yorkshire and they’ve invited me and a guest to stay with them.”

“And you’ve already accepted for me?”

“I have, you’re not offended that I did that are you?”

“No I’m not,” Elsie replied, “I’ll make a note of it when I get home,” she added, as she bit her lip. This was definitely beginning to veer off course, being introduced to friends and family was a rare occurrence when dealing with her targets. Not to mention the fact the Crawley’s middle daughter Edith was one of her students at the Education Centre. If they got even the slightest hint of why she was with Charles, it would most definitely be game over.

-x-x-

“You know, sometimes I wonder if I’m getting too old to be doing this,” Elsie sighed as she looked at her reflection in the mirror, “I think maybe Charles should be last one.”

“What about Richard Carlisle?” Thomas pointed out, noticing how Elsie shuddered at the mention of his name. Thomas knew about the blackmailing. He had once tried to get her to go to the police about it, but she had refused knowing that Carlisle would find a way to make her pay for it, “What if he tells Douglas what happened? What you did?”

“It’s been fifteen years,” Elsie replied, “maybe it’s time.”

“But what about Becky‘s care.”

“I have enough put by for another year or two,” Elsie commented, “it wouldn’t be an ideal situation, but it would be one I could handle.”

Thomas shook his head at his friend and wondered what exactly had brought this on. In the sixteen years that he’d known her, he had only ever seen her waver once, and that had been at the hospital, before Carlisle had made his first demand. But that had been over whether or not she had been right to do what she did. She had been, her then boyfriend had been the reason as to why she had found herself in that situation. 

“So what do you think of this one?” Elsie asked drawing Thomas’ attention back to what they had gone out for. The dress was floor length and blue with gold sequinned capped sleeves.

“No,” Thomas replied, “that colour doesn’t quite work, besides it looks a little cheap,” he added.

“It’s £149.”

“Then it’s £130 too much. Where’s that black one I suggested?”

“This one?” she asked pulling out the one at the back of the selection, with a wrinkle of her nose. She hadn’t liked the look of it on the hanger, but Thomas insisted she try it and she trusted his judgement when it came to clothes. He hadn’t steered her wrong yet.

“Try that one,” he suggested, knowing it definitely would not look out of place among the higher echelons of British Society.

-x-x-

Elsie hurried up the stairs as she tried to carry her bag on one arm, fish out the spare key for Charles’ apartment and keep the bag of shopping from falling out all over the stairwell. They were supposed to be going out this evening, but he had rung her to cancel as he wasn’t feeling that good. Elsie had automatically decided to go over to his flat and look after him. Somewhere between Clapham Junction and Wapping High Street, she had stopped thinking on her reasons as to why that had been her first thought. As she reached the fifth floor, she rung the doorbell and waited for an answer.

“Oh, is Charles there?” Elsie asked as the door opened to reveal that her knock had been answered by a man she didn’t recognise.

“He is, who’s asking?”

“I’m Elsie,” she replied.

“You’re Elsie?” came another voice. Elsie looked behind the mystery man to see a blonde woman walking towards the door, “Charles has told us all about you,” she added as she pulled her inside, “I’m Anna, and that’s my husband John, we’ve known Charles for ages” she smiled as she took the bag of shopping out of Elsie’s hands, “he’s in his room, if you want to see him.”

Elsie smiled at Anna before walking towards his bedroom. She knocked lightly on the door and pushed it open to see Charles reclined on the bed, looking every inch as ill as he had sounded on the phone.

“Here she is, my angel,” Charles commented as he saw Elsie walking towards him.

“I’m no angel,” she smiled as she knelt on his bed, and pressed a hand against his forehead, “well, at least you don’t seem to have a temperature at the moment.”

As she moved to get off of the bed, Charles placed his hands on her hips and pulled her close, before he kissed her lightly.

"Are you staying with me tonight?”

“I have nothing to sleep in.”

“That’s how I’d usually prefer you,” he smiled with a wolfish grin, “but you can have one of my shirts if you want.”

“And if I get ill?”

“Then I’ll return the favour and nurse you,” he replied as he pulled her closer once more, and caused her to topple onto the bed beside him.

Elsie opened her mouth to speak, when a knock from the door caused her to spring back from the bed.

“Just popped into say goodbye, we need to pick Poppy up from my mum,” John said.

“I’ll leave you to it,” Elsie smiled as she walked out of the bedroom leaving the three friends alone.

“I know you’re only involved with her because of a case, but she seems really nice,” Anna said, earning a snort from John. She was well aware of John’s opinion on Elsie and that he was only looking out for his friend, but at the same time, Anna could sense something that John probably hadn’t. She watched from the window as the two friends said goodbye, before moving over to Charles.

“You know,” Anna commented “it very much looks like you’re falling in love with Elsie.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” he coughed. He knew there was a sliver of truth in Anna’s statement, but that didn’t mean he had to hear about it. Especially as it just made his job harder to even acknowledge it. If he acknowledged it, then he had to acknowledge the fact that both he and Elsie would end up getting hurt.

“And it looks like she’s starting to fall in love with you too,” Anna said before picking up her bag and following the path that John had just taken.

Charles shook his head as he watched his friends leave. The fact that Elsie was starting to fall for him made him smile, but at the same time it made him feel apprehensive. Before he could ruminate further on the mixed feelings, Charles heard the footsteps in the hallway and looked up to see Elsie stood in the doorway.

“Is there anything I can get you?”

“No, I’m just going to go to sleep,” he replied, “hopefully, I’ll be well enough to take you out tomorrow.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Elsie smiled as she moved over to him, “just concentrate on getting better,” she added as she pressed a light kiss to his nose, before walking towards the en-suite so she could use the shower.

Charles smiled at her retreating form, before he led back against the pillows, closing his eyes as he did so. He guessed he must have fallen asleep or at least dozed off, as the next thing he knew, he felt the bed dip beside him.

“Your shower is infinitely better than mine, maybe I’ll stay,” Elsie joked as she settled down beside him on the bed.

“Maybe you should,” Charles replied almost asleep again, as he rolled over and slung an arm across her waist, pulling her closer in the process, “stay with me forever and ever.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Wordsworth poem that Elsie quotes from is 'Composed Upon Westminster Bridge, September 3rd 1802'

Elsie sighed as she waited for the kettle to boil. It had been a slightly restless night’s sleep for her. Since Charles had made his comment last night, she had been unable to stop her mind from thinking on it. He had told her that he wanted her to stay forever and ever. Part of Elsie wanted to dismiss it as ramblings of a fevered mind. However, she knew it wasn’t that, for one he hadn’t had a fever at all, just a little bit of a sniffle. As the kettle finished boiling, she unplugged it, poured the hot water into the cup and finished making her cup of tea.  
  
She picked up the cup, and pushed away from the counter and walked towards the roof terrace. As she pulled open the terrace doors, Elsie remembered that she was only wearing Charles’ shirt and her underwear. She smiled as she noticed the throw on one of the sofas. Elsie knew she could throw it around herself if she got a little cold. As she walked outside, she was pleasantly surprised to find that it was fairly warm. Especially as it was 5am and the sun had yet to rise. She sat down on the sofa, tucked her legs underneath her and cradled the cup in her hands as she rested her head against the back of the sofa.  
  
As an early morning breeze played with the wisps of hair that had fallen out of her ponytail, Elsie turned her thoughts back to the previous night. Charles’ words still twirling around in her head. Stay with me forever and ever. No one had ever said those words to her. Ever. Her parents had encouraged her to spread her wings and fly, not stay on the farm. The men she’d dated had never said it, no matter how much they’d fallen before she had scammed them. Though she’d had her flat for fifteen years, to her, it seemed like she was always running. In that moment, Elsie couldn’t help but feel as though this was the first time, she’d felt like staying anywhere.  
  
She placed her cup on the nearest table, before she stood up and walked towards the railings. She had pulled the throw with her and wrapped it around herself. She smiled as she saw the sun start to rise in the distance, and the sky grew lighter. She couldn’t help but wonder if other people were up and about at this time besides the milkmen and road sweepers. She could make out the odd car going across the bridge every now and again. But otherwise, the whole city seemed to still be asleep.  
“ _Dear God! the very houses seem asleep; And all that mighty heart is lying still_ ,” she murmured to herself, quoting Wordsworth.  
  
She breathed in the early morning air, and went inside to check her phone. She hadn’t looked at it since the previous evening. Elsie really hoped Becky hadn’t rung, especially as she had a tendency to panic if Elsie didn’t pick up when she called. She pulled her phone out of her bag and breathed a sigh of relief as she saw there were no missed calls. Elsie was about to put it back into her bag, when it started to ring again. She felt the colour drain out of her face, as she saw just who it was ringing her.  
  
“ _Good morning, Ms Hughes_ ,” came the voice on the other end “ _I see you have a new toy._ ”  
  
“He‘s not a toy,” she replied.  
  
“ _Careful, are those feelings that I’m detecting?_ ”  
  
“No,” she commented, subconsciously aware of the fact that she had spoken far too fast, “how did you find out about Charles anyway?”  
  
“ _I have my sources. Now do you know how much he’s worth?_ ”  
  
“It hasn’t come up,” Elsie replied.

  
-x-x-

Charles awoke to a steady stream of early morning sunshine, as it crawled across his bedroom floor. He rolled over and frowned when he saw the bed was empty on the other side. For a moment his sleep filled mind wondered why this was confusing to him. He soon remembered why when he caught the lingering scent that he knew was Elsie’s perfume. Charles sat up and wondered where she had gone. Especially as he had woken in the middle of the night to find her sleeping soundly, her head by the crook of his neck, breath dancing tantalisingly across his chest. As he moved to get out of the bed, he realised he felt a lot better than he had this time yesterday. Not completely a hundred percent but enough that he felt he could get out of bed without feeling faint.  
  
He pulled on his dressing gown and opened the door. He could hear the faint sounds of someone talking in the kitchen. As he drew closer, he could see Elsie walking around the kitchen. Charles could tell from the brief glimpses of her face that the conversation was not a happy one.  
  
Elsie ended the call, and put her phone back in her bag. She rested her hands on the sideboard and leaned forward, her head dipped. With each call or text from Carlisle, she felt more nervous, and sick to the stomach. There was a part of her that wanted all of this to be over, but she wasn’t that naïve girl anymore. She knew that would never be free of it. Not until she had outlived her usefulness to him. Something she sensed may happen sooner or later. The only way she could see to be free was to report him to the police. Yet she knew well enough that he would take her down with him.  
  
“You’re up early,” Charles commented, causing Elsie to spin around to face him and wonder just how much he’d heard of the conversation.  
  
“I couldn’t sleep,” she replied.  
  
“If you ever needed my help, I’m here for you,” Charles said as he walked over to her and took her hands in his, “I’ll be on your side,” he added, without a hint of doubt on his part.  
  
“Thank you for that,” she smiled, “now back to bed with you. You still look a little peaky.”  
  
“Are you coming too?” he asked hopefully. Elsie nodded before she turned and followed him back towards his room. Hoping that an extra few hours sleep might clear away some of the unease she felt.

\--x--

Charles walked down Pall Mall towards Boodle’s wondering why Lord Parsons had wanted to meet with him today. They weren’t scheduled to meet for an update on the case until the end of August. Charles’ main thought was that Lord Parsons had decided to bring in another PI which would only complicate matters. His other thought was that the case was being brought to an end before he had got the money back. That thought filled him with equal parts hope and worry. Hope that he would be able to stop leading Elsie on, and worry that their relationship would be irrevocably changed if he did. Not that it hadn’t changed already. Since Elsie had shown up to look after him when he had been ill last week, there had been a definite shift between them. One that both of them hadn’t been able to define.  
  
He smiled at the doorman who held the door open for him, before checking Charles’ name on the list of visitors expected. He then sent Charles in the direction of what had once been the smoking room, but was now a meeting room. As Charles walked through the double doors he noticed Lord Parsons sat in a high backed chair in the far corner.

“Ah, Carson, good of you to come in such short notice. Hope I haven’t pulled you away from anything important?”

“Not at all,” he replied, as he took the proffered seat.

“How is it all going?”

“Quite good, I don’t believe it will be much longer now,” Charles commented, “there’s just one or two little secrets that I believe can really ruin her once I know them,” he added, feeling a little unease creep in. No longer sure, if he wanted to stick to the original plan.

“And does she seem to be falling in love with you?” Oliver asked, knowing that, that was a key part in Charles’ plan.

“It would seem so, but I can’t be sure just yet.”

“Well, just make sure you know, Elsie was always good at making you believe she loved you,” Oliver commented bitterly, before he poured them both a drink.  
Charles couldn’t help but think about Anna’s comment from the other week. She had said that it was clear that Elsie was beginning to fall for him. But now he couldn’t help but wonder if Anna was mistaken. _But she couldn’t be, could she?_ Charles thought to himself.

Anna was always a good analysing someone’s body language, and had never made a mistake. Plus the way that Elsie had spent two full days looking after him had spoken volumes. To his mind at least. There was no way she would have done that had she not been a little bit in love with him. He didn’t believe _that_ anyone could be that good at lying.

"I’m sorry?” he asked aware that Lord Parsons had just spoken to him.

“I said I saw Robert Crawley earlier, he mentioned you were taking Elsie to Downton at the end of August.”

“I am,” Charles nodded as he wondered why Lord Parsons had brought this topic up.

“Good idea,” Oliver commented, “she always did like the finer things as I’m sure you’ve found out.”

“I have,” he replied, knowing full well that nothing could be further from the truth. The Elsie he’d gotten to know lived fairly simply. Well as simple as anyone could live in London. He knew she had a lot of money from the many years she’d been operating, but there was very little evidence of it in her way of living. He had yet to figure out just where the profits from her misdeeds had gone.

“He did invite me,” Oliver commented, “but under the circumstances I thought it best not to. Didn’t want to draw attention to your _real_ job,” he smiled.

“He doesn’t know you used to date her does he?” Charles asked, “Or that I’m attempting to ruin her?” he added. Everyone knew that sometimes, Robert had a way of speaking without thinking, especially if he had a drink.

“He does, but he has no idea that she’s the reason I hired you,” he replied with a wave of his hand, “he thinks it was about a business deal,” he added, “and I told him to not mention my name in front of her. Just in case he gives the game away.”

“Thank you,” Charles nodded slightly relieved. It wouldn’t do to have the whole operation blown by one careless comment. Or to have a blazing row in front of his friends.

“If you need anything before you leave, do let me know,” Oliver began, “I can see that your ends are more than met.”

-X-X-X-X-

Elsie put the last of the display folders into her bag, before checking she had everything else. Normally, she didn’t take home the work of her students, but as there was a writing competition coming up, some wanted her to check over their submissions. Satisfied that she had everything she needed Elsie picked up her bag and made to exit the classroom.

“Was there something you wanted?” she asked as she caught sight of Edith stood by the door.  
  
“Not really,” Edith replied, “mama told me last week that you were coming to Downton for our bank holiday weekend.”  
  
“Yes I am, it was nice of your parents to include me in the invitation,” Elsie commented, “though I am worried about the fact that it’s a grand house and…”

“Oh don’t worry about that,” Edith interrupted, “my parents don’t actually live at Downton, my paternal ancestors did, but since the 1950’s they’ve only held the title and live in London. The house is open to the public except for when they use it for special events,” she added, “my grandmother hates it, but they find it easier. Papa especially likes it as it’s easier to deal with his clients and his consultancy firm.”

“So how does your family know Charles?” Elsie asked

“He helped my father make a good investment a few years back, they‘ve been friends ever since.” Edith replied. She recalled her parents telling her that Elsie had no idea what Charles did for a living yet, and she was to keep quiet on the private investigator front, so she wasn’t exactly lying. Robert Crawley had made an investment on the recommendation of Charles. It was just an investment in Charles’ services so that Sybil could get away from Larry Grey. “When did the two of you meet anyway?”  
  
“About six weeks ago,” Elsie smiled as she recalled the memory of that first charged meeting at the casino.

“It’ll be nice to see you away from the classroom,” Edith commented, “and it’ll give you the chance to meet the two people who encouraged me to take this course.”  
  
“I look forward to it,” she replied before she left the classroom.

\--x--

Elsie looked at the clock on the bedside table as she did a final check that she had everything. She would’ve done it the night before, but she had been a little distracted. Charles had suggested that the night before they set off, he should stay over at her flat, just so it would be easier. Elsie had wondered why he’d chosen to stay at hers instead of his, but when Charles had shown her the route that they’d be taking to get to the village of Downton, she had understood. This way, they avoided much of the traffic around Wapping and Tower Hill. Satisfied that everything was as it should be, she closed both of her suitcases and wheeled them out of her room, and putting them by the open front door for Charles to take down to the car.

“Is that everything?” Charles asked as Elsie carried a second suitcase and a garment bag down the front steps of her flat.

“It is,” Elsie nodded, as she slapped Charles’ hand away from the zip of the garment bag. Ever since Elsie had told him that she had her dress for the gala, he had been trying to get details out of her, but she wasn’t giving in. She wanted it to be a surprise, she had, had Thomas’ help to pull the whole look together once they had settled on a dress and didn’t want to ruin one ounce of the look before the night. She had been surprised that Charles hadn’t tried to have a quick look the previous night. Though as a graphic memory from the night before had worked its way to the front of her mind, Elsie figured he had been too tired to even contemplate it.

As it was a four and a half hour drive to Downton, they had agreed to share the driving. Elsie drove for the first half, and then following a stop at a service station to refill the petrol, Charles would take over the remainder of the journey. Especially as he had been there before and knew the route better than she did. Elsie was resting her head against the window as they took the turning towards Thirsk. Her mind had been a whirl of worry. Especially, as she knew that Lord Parsons moved in the same circles as Robert Crawley and couldn’t help but wonder if Robert knew of her former relationship. _And if he did_ , she thought, _what if he tells everyone?_

“Are you alright?” Charles asked, noticing that she seemed to be lost in thought.

“Fine,” she replied with a smile, “just a little nervous, I don’t usually move in these circles.”

“Don’t worry,” Charles commented, briefly removing a hand from the wheel to squeeze her leg reassuringly before he returned it to its original place, “you said yourself that Edith said they weren’t that grand.”

“But she’s their daughter, her definition of grand might be different to mine,” Elsie said as she turned her attention back to the passing scenery.

-x-x-x-

“Just how long is this road to the house?” Elsie asked as they passed through the gates that separated the estate from the A road.

“About a mile roughly,” Charles replied as they drove under a canopy of trees, “you should see the house, in a few moments,” he added as they passed a sign that had been put in for the use of the public that indicated the road towards the main house.

Elsie kept her eyes trained firmly ahead, and as they started up a gentle incline, she caught sight of a flag in the middle tower, before the rest of the imposing structure came into focus. She felt her eyes widen as she took in the full expanse of the grounds and the house as they pulled up outside the front of the house.

“Are you sure we can park here?” Elsie asked as she got out of the passenger side and looked over the top of the car at Charles.

“We can,” Charles nodded and walked around to meet her, as the front doors opened and two tall men walked out followed by a well dressed couple.

“Elsie, this is Robert and Cora Crawley,” Charles added as he shook hands with Robert.

“Hello,” Elsie replied a little nervously.

“Welcome to Downton,” Cora smiled, putting Elsie’s mind at ease a little. Neither of them wore looks of recognition or anger. Maybe this weekend wouldn’t be so nerve wracking at all.


	10. Chapter 10

Elsie looked around the room that Cora had showed them too. Like several other rooms off of the gallery, it had its own little bathroom area that had been modernised, but it still retained all the character of what it would have looked like at the turn of the century. Cora had apologised for the lack of a dressing room, but both had waved it off saying it was fine. Especially as they would get to see one of them on the small tour that Cora would be giving them.   
  
“What did Cora say this room was called?” Elsie asked as she trailed a hand across the red fabric of the wall.  
  
“This is the Stanhope bedroom and was decorated in these colours by the 5th Countess of Grantham in 1895 for a visit by the Prince of Wales,” Charles replied as he read a little card that was led down on the desk.  
  
“That’s cheating,” Elsie chided, before she laughed at the mock offended look on Charles’ face. Charles moved over to the window to look at the view, and could see an old folly in the distance.  
  
Elsie picked up the garment bag that held her dress for the gala and hung it up on the wardrobe door. Elsie turned around and saw that Charles was still stood looking out of the window. She walked over to him and slid her arms around his waist. She watched as he turned around to face her and smiled when he pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose.   
“Do you think Edward VII stood here when he visited 120 years ago?” Charles asked.  
  
“Maybe,” Elsie replied, “I expect anyone who has stayed in here over the years has stood and looked out of this window,” she added “It says something about our differences that you wondered if a King stood in this spot, and I wondered if he came alone, brought his wife or one of his many mistresses.”

* * *

“Do you know anyone else that’s coming this weekend?” Elsie asked as they walked down the stairs towards the library.  
  
“Not especially,” he replied, “I only really know Robert, Cora and their daughters, but Mary won’t be here, she and her husband Matthew are based in New York” he added as they walked across the hall to the library.  
  
Charles pushed open the door and let Elsie walk in before he followed her. As they entered both saw that Cora and Robert had yet to appear but there were two other women stood there. Elsie realised that one of them was Edith.   
“Oh Elsie,” Edith commented as she rushed over to her, “you have to meet my sister,” she added, “Elsie this is my sister Sybil, she encouraged me to go for the writing course.”  
  
“Nice to meet you,” Sybil smiled as she shook Elsie’s hand, “though I can’t take all the credit,” she added, before she moved to hug Charles. It had been a while since she had last seen him, and if it hadn’t been for his help, her life now could have been very different.  
  
“How’s Tom?” Charles asked as Edith captured Elsie in a conversation about a rare first edition of Jane Eyre that was in the library.  
  
“He’s great,” Sybil replied, “thanks to you,” she added, “he’s here as well. He and Bertie – that’s Edith’s fiancé, took Aoife and Marigold to the farm down the road.”  
  
Half an hour later, everyone that was staying the weekend, had congregated in the library. Elsie had been relieved to discover that they were only a small group. Though she knew that their numbers would swell on Saturday evening for the gala. Elsie had also been relieved to learn that (unlike what she had feared) only a few people actually knew each other. Dr and Mrs Clarkson were Mary’s mother and step-father in law; Tom Branson was the husband of Sybil. Herbert - though he much preferred the name Bertie - was Edith’s fiancé who had brought Edith back out of herself following the death of her former boyfriend and father of Marigold, Michael Gregson who had been a War Correspondent for The Times.  The group also included a small assortment of colleagues of Cora and Robert’s. Once all the introductions had been made, Cora decided it was time to begin the tour. She had spent the past several months researching the family when she was refurbishing the unused rooms and was looking forward to sharing the knowledge with her assembled friends and family. She made her way over to the small library, and waited for them to approach her.

“Though commonly mistaken for a girl, this is a painting of Sir John Acland. He grew up to be a Major in the Grenadiers and fought in the American War of Independence. His daughter Elizabeth, married the man who would eventually become the 2nd Earl in 1796.” Cora began as she pointed at a painting above the fireplace.

“How long have the Crawley family owned Downton Abbey then?” came a voice from the back of the crowd. Elsie recognised her as one of the designers that worked with Cora at Levinson Interiors.

“It was given as gift to Margaret Sawyer from her father Robert, in 1692 on her marriage to the nobleman Thomas Crawley. Then it was a double fronted, Elizabethan mansion with a courtyard, stables, garden and an orchard. It then became a Georgian mansion. Then in 1838, the 3rd Earl, commissioned the architect Chris Barry fresh from designing the Houses of Parliament, to rebuild and remodel the mansion into the Jacobethan style which combined elements of both the Elizabethan and Jacobean styles with the English Renaissance style that came back into fashion in the 1820’s,” she replied.

“You can tell my wife loves architecture and design can’t you?” Robert smiled proudly, drawing a smile from the assembled guests, “it’s no wonder she’s the best at what she does.”

“Now the library itself,” Cora continued, with cheeks faint with blush from the praise, “has over 5,650 books, the earliest of which date back to the 16th Century. The 4th Earl, liked to use this as his withdrawal room, and found it a useful place for a moment or two of peace. And as he was a prominent member of the Tory party, and a part of Disraeli’s cabinet, he also used this room to meet with his peers and fellow politicians,” she added, “journals from the time that the house was being remodelled tell us that the sum of £632 2s 8d was paid to a local merchant in 1875 for the polishing and gilding of the bookcases and for bosses and gilding for the ceiling.”

At the nod from Cora, Robert opened the concealed door between the library and music room, by pulling on one of the books. He led them through the door and into the music room. The first item they saw was a curved sofa intricate in design. It looked like two separate chairs, joined together by a wave. Elsie imagined it must have been easy for couples to sit on and share the odd illicit kiss in the refined courtships of the Victorian era.

“So,” Cora began, “this is what is known as the music room, it is south facing and from the various letters I have found I believe that this was mostly used for entertaining during the summer months. And it also where the current Earl of Grantham,” she paused and locked eyes with Robert, “proposed 30 years ago,” she added, “now if you look out of the window you can see two follies. To the East you will see Jackdaw’s castle and in the distance you can see what is known as Heaven’s Gate just at the summit of the hill. The golden silk tapestries on the wall are Italian and were acquired from Malatesta Palace in Rimini. They are estimated to date from the 16th Century,” Cora continued, “the ceiling is painted in the baroque style, and is believed to have been commissioned in the 1730’s or 1740’s back when this was still an Elizabethan mansion. You can tell this because the rooms then were much smaller, and when the house was remodelled, the ceiling painting was careful broken up and separated to create the ceiling you see now.”

They spent several moments looking around the room. Elsie took her opportunity to look closely at the tapestry. She marvelled at the intricacy of the design and the animals that were mixed into it. Elsie was also amazed at how vibrant it still seemed despite being over 500 years old.

From the music room, they walked into the drawing room. The first thing that they noticed was that the walls, were decorated with green silk. They learned that they had been imported from France, and gifted to Evelyn*, the 5th Countess of Grantham as part of her generous dowry from her father. It had been the first room decorated by the new countess following their wedding in 1894. Above the fireplace was a painting of the four children of the 1st Earl painted in 1795 by Sir William Beechy.

In the corner of the room, just beside the doors that led from the music room, stood a grand piano. While Charles studied the piano (and recalled his lessons from childhood), Elsie looked at the portrait that hung on the wall behind it. She knew she had seen the child in the picture before she just couldn’t place him.

“Who’s the boy in the painting?” Elsie asked as Cora approached them.

“Ah yes that is one of my mother-in-law’s favourites,” Cora replied, “that is a portrait of Prince William, the Duke of Gloucester, the only one of Queen Anne’s children to survive infancy, sadly though, he died in 1700 at the age of 11. The Crawley family acquired the painting in 1793, when Henry Crawley was given the title Earl of Grantham by King George the 3rd.”

They walked through another set of doors, and were about to walk into what used to be the Smoking Room, when Cora stopped them.

“These,” she said as she pointed at some thin panels in the small gap between two sets of doors, “are where the 6th Earl, Robert’s grandfather, hid some valuable antiques** during his divorce from his first wife Catherine when it turned especially nasty and he didn’t want her to get them,” she added with a laugh, before she let them continue into the room.

“Many of the paintings you see here,” Cora began, “are Dutch paintings dating back to the 17th century that were amongst the earliest works of art that our ancestors brought to Downton when they moved in, in 1692,” she added, “the rest were brought back in the 19th century after the 4th Earl, took a grand tour when he graduated from Cambridge,” she finished.

“Some,” Robert piped up, “are cousins of paintings that now hang in our London town house, where my mother lives,” he added.

In the corner of the room, they noticed an antique painted Dutch screen that dated back to the 18th Century. It depicted nine separate landscape screens. In pride of place in the middle of the far wall, was a portrait of a young woman in 1920’s dress. Elsie guessed that the woman in the portrait was definitely a relative of the Crawley’s as she shared features with Edith. They learned that the woman in the picture was Catherine Crawley (nee Lindquist***) who was the 6th Countess of Grantham.

From the smoking room, they were led out of the far door and up the red staircase to the second floor.

“Can you imagine living and working here in its heyday?” Charles asked as they passed the turning that would have led them up to the gallery and the first floor bedrooms.

“I could,” Elsie nodded, “though I doubt I’d have made a good servant. I‘m not sure I could live my life dictated by the rules and whims of the people I worked for.”

“I don’t know,” Charles commented, “I think you would have coped admirably, my dear,” he added, “maybe even made your way up to housekeeper.”

“If I could’ve worked with you, I might have coped,” she smiled as they walked onto the second floor.

As they walked around the second floor, Cora showed them the room that had been the day nursery up until the 1930’s and then a school room of sorts when the Abbey had housed several hundred evacuees during the second World War. They could see that many of the text books still remained in the cubby holes along the wall. Cora explained that when she was ready this room as well as several others that she was redesigning on the second floor would be open to the public in addition to the rooms already open to the public.

As they walked back down towards the gallery, Cora mentioned that the rooms on the third floor had been the first to be renovated at the turn of the century. They were now used as flats for the few staff that still lived in the Abbey, most of whom were descendants of former servants to the Crawley family. The rooms were also used as offices for the director of the house on the days when it was open, and several of the assistants that worked there.

As they walked along the gallery, Elsie looked over the balustrades of the gallery and looked down at the Saloon. Around the gallery she could see all the coats of arms for every marriage between the heir and their bride. They were shown the Arundel bedroom, the dressing room of which had been used as a make shift operating theatre when parts of the Abbey had been used as a hospital during the first few years of the First World War. Downton Abbey had been a full fledged convalescent home in 1917.

“The Oak staircase,” Cora began as the group walked down to the saloon, “was designed by Thomas Allom who took over from Chris Barry after his death, and was built by Messrs Cox and Sons of London. It took them from December 1861 to October 1862 to carve it and install it in the middle of the tall Italianate tower that Barry had built in 1842 and stands in the middle of the Abbey.”

As they reached the bottom of the stairs, they passed a marble carving of the 2nd Earl and his sister and were led along to the dining room. The centre piece of the dining room was a magnificent wooden table, that still looked as new as the day it was first brought into the house. Along the wall were portraits of various Crawley ancestors. The main portrait in the room was on the wall behind the head of the table. It was Van Dyck’s equestrian portrait of Charles I. On either side of it were portraits of the Crawley ancestors who had taken part in the English Civil War.

“The entrance hall,” Cora explained, “was built in the gothic style and was believed to have been designed by George Scott at the time was rebuilding the Parish church in the village and was also the architect of the Albert Memorial and St. Pancreas,” she added, “the polychrome floor was designed by William Butterfield and laid in 1864 by William Field, who at the same time added an early, but extremely sophisticated central heating system.”

Cora then led them out of the front doors, so she could show them the front structure of the Abbey.

“Between 1838 and 1843, Chris Barry, worked made no less than three redesigns of the old Georgian mansion,” she said, “this was the third design, and the one that stuck. As you can see above the door is the inscription ‘MDCCCXLII’ which is the date of completion for the North, South and East wings of the Abbey which was 1842. The West Wing which would go onto become the servants quarters was actually completed by Thomas Allom in the 1860’s after the death of Chris Barry,” she added, “you can also see our family motto which loosely translates as ‘only one will I serve’. I can’t tell you much about the grounds, except that they were designed by Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown,” Cora continued with a laugh, “though do feel free to explore them at your leisure this weekend. The Secret Garden in particular has some beautiful blooms at this time of year.”

\--x--

Later that night, Elsie walked through the door to their room and kicked off her heels before collapsing onto the bed. After they had finished the tour of the Abbey, they had begun to get ready for the dinner. Mostly because everyone would be retiring early, as the following day would be an extremely long one.

“How’s the bed?” Charles asked as he walked into the room to see her lying across the middle of the bed, her hair fanned out behind her. The deep red bright and vibrant against the white of the covers. Her eyes were closed and there was a look of deep contentment on her face.

“Very comfortable,” she smiled not opening her eyes, “come join me,” she added as she patted the space beside her. Charles discarded his jacket and draped across one of the chairs and loosened the cuffs before he made his way over to her.

Elsie smiled as she felt the mattress dip beside her, and felt him begin to trail a hand up and down her side. She let out a contented sigh as she felt his fingers brush against the hem of her skirt, before they slowly slid underneath it to the stroke the bare skin just above the top of her stockings.

Charles frowned momentarily when she moved his hand out from under her skirt. However his frown turned into a smile when he felt her move so that she was led atop of him.

“Hello,” he smiled as she opened hers to look down at him. He noted that her blue eyes had taken on a darker shade, and he knew instinctively where her thoughts were heading.

She smiled down at him, before she pressed her lips against his. After a few moments, the kiss deepened and Elsie felt him pull her closer. She gasped into his mouth as his fingers unhooked the button at the back of her top and his hands slipped inside, to toy with the clasp of her bra. As his hands continued to stroke across her back, Elsie moved her hands so that they could begin to open the buttons of his shirt. Charles’ lips moved from hers to trail kisses along her neck, while Elsie’s hands found her way inside his shirt. As her hands moved around to his back, her hands brushed against the knot of gnarled flesh from the old wound in his side.

Elsie could remember the first time they had fallen into bed together. The urgency of the moment hadn’t given her much chance to study him fully. Though as they had lay gasping for breath in the aftermath amongst twisted sheets and the sweat cooling on their bodies, her hands had first found the wound. She had asked him about it, but he had evaded her line of questioning, and had promised to tell her at some point in the future.

She was pulled out of her reminiscing by the feel of Charles’ hands as they inched her top higher up her body. She pulled away from him slightly so that he could remove it fully and throw it to the floor. Charles then took the opportunity to swap their positions so that she was led underneath him. Elsie smiled up at him as she pulled his shirt off and sent it to rest next to her top. She then let out a small moan as he began to kiss his way down her torso. She felt her final conscious thoughts leave her as Charles pulled her skirt down, his lips never leaving her skin. She smiled to herself, content to let herself get fully carried away by the moment.

\--x--

“Christ alive, Els,” Charles commented as he walked out of the en-suite to see her stood waiting for him in the same green dress she had been wearing when they had first met at the Casino.

“Too much?” she asked, as she pulled on a pair of nude court shoes.

“No, but I’m just wondering how I’m going to focus on the horses, when you’re walking around dressed like that,” he replied as he moved closer to her.

“Well if you behave today,” Elsie smirked as she hooked her arms around his neck, “you can have your wicked way with me after the gala,” she added before she leaned in and kissed him quickly but with plenty of promise behind it, “come on, we’ll be leaving soon,” she finished as she threw him a quick smile before she picked up her clutch and walked out of their room. Charles smiled as he watched her leave. 

“God I really do lo..like her,” he said to the empty room, fully aware of the word that had nearly slipped out. Yet rather than worry about it, he only acknowledged how right the word felt. Even if it was only in his mind.

\--x--

Elsie had never thought she would be one to enjoy a day at the races. Too many memories of her father and his gambling addiction. But she had to admit that so far, she had been having a fantastic time. There was something to be said for the thrill that ran through her veins as a rank outsider pulled ahead of the competition. The ambience as everyone joined in to cheer on the jockey’s and their horses. While Elsie didn’t want to place to many bets, or waste too much money, she had enjoyed helping Charles to pick the horses that he wanted to bet on.

They were currently stood just outside of the enclosure, watching the 2:20 race. Charles had chosen the horse for this one based purely on the name, and hadn’t paid attention to any other information. When Elsie had asked about why he had chosen this particular horse, he had said it reminded him of the night they had first met and how he had met a lady dressed in green. Lady In Green was currently in fifth place, and Elsie was fairly sure they wouldn’t be winning this one. So she was fairly shocked to see said horse pull ahead of those in fourth and third place. Elsie felt herself hold her breath as Lady In Green came to be in equal position to the front runner Diamond Sky.

“And the winner is Lady In Green,” the commentator yelled, as Lady In Green pulled ahead of its nearest competitor and came in first at 10-1.

“YES!” Charles exclaimed as he threw his arms around Elsie and picked her up.

“You really are lucky aren’t you?” Elsie laughed as he spun her around.

“You must be my lucky charm,” he replied as he set her back down, before he kissed her lightly and headed off to collect his winnings from the bookie.

Elsie watched as he walked away, unable to stop the smile that formed on her face. There was no longer any doubt in her mind that something deeper had begun to form between them. She wasn’t sure she’d call it love, but Elsie couldn’t help but feel she was getting dangerously close to the point where she could call it that.

“What a surprise to see you here.“

Elsie felt her blood run cold as she recognised the voice. She slowly turned around to see Richard Carlisle stood in front of her.

"What the hell are you doing up here?” Elsie hissed, “you never bother with this particular meet.”

“Oh I know,” he smirked, “but a little birdy told me that you were here. Thought I’d take the opportunity to see you and your new toy,” he added. Elsie watched as his eyes moved over the crowd and came to settle on Charles. She really didn’t like the look on his face, and rather than feeling fearful for herself, she felt more worried for Charles. She had seen that smug smile before and it wasn’t a good thing. “I know Charles Carson well.” Elsie recoiled from him slightly as she heard the hint of malice in his voice, “you better ruin him.”

“And what if I refuse?”

“You’re forgetting one thing,” Richard said as he moved so they were practically nose to nose, his hands gripped her upper arms, “I. Own. You.” he added his voice low and dangerous. “One false move from you, and everything you’ve worked for these past fifteen years will come crashing down around your ears,” he finished before he released her and walked away smirking. He knew exactly who Charles Carson was. Knew that he was a private investigator. _With any luck they’ll ruin each other_ , he thought with a smirk.

Elsie let out a shaky breath and leant back against the wall, eyes closed. Of all the things that she had thought could happen today that had been one of the last things she’d expected. She knew that Carlisle was very into his horse racing but hadn’t expected to see him at Ripon, it hadn’t even been a big meet, just a small little one after the excitement of Goodwood and Ebor. Elsie had also seen the smug smile that had twisted on Carlisle’s face when he had seen who was with. She guessed that there was some history between the two and knowing what she knew about Carlisle, she guessed it wasn’t the good kind. Elsie jumped slightly as she felt a hand on her arm. She opened her eyes to see Robert stood in front of her.   
“Are you alright?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” she lied.  
  
“I’ve had dealings with Carlisle before, I know he’s not a nice guy,” Robert commented, “last year he tried to publish a story about my eldest daughter Mary and an exchange student from Turkey, two days before her wedding,” he added, “whatever he wanted, don’t let him bully you.”  
  
“It’s nothing,” Elsie replied with a wave of her hand, as she attempted to brush it off.  
  
“It’s clearly not nothing,” Robert smiled grimly, as he noted how shaken she still was, “do you want me to get Charles?”  
  
“No, I don’t want to worry him,” she commented. Plus she didn’t want to give Charles any information that might give away her second life.  
  
“I’ll have to say something, he’ll see how shaken you are.”  
  
“Then we’ll just say it was a disgruntled punter, annoyed about losing a lot of money off his bet,” Elsie replied, “there’s enough of them about,” she added dryly.  
  
“If you’re sure,” Robert commented earning a nod in reply.

They walked back to the enclosure where the rest of the party were in silence. Despite what she had said, part of Robert wanted to tell Elsie about Charles’ job just so that Elsie knew she had someone in her corner to help should she need it. Especially as he had no doubt in his mind that Charles knew a lot of dirt that Carlisle wouldn’t want made public. However, Robert knew that it wasn’t his secret to tell and hoped that Charles would tell her soon.

"Elsie, what’s wrong?” Charles asked as she approached him and he noticed she looked pale.

“Nothing, just some drunken idiot,” she shrugged, “I’m fine, really,” she smiled, before she leaned in and kissed his cheek.

Charles watched as she walked away to lean against the railings of the enclosure ready for the next race and wondered just what the hell had happened. He shook his head, and knew that if anything was actually bothering her, Elsie would tell him in her own time. He walked over to where she was stood and slid his arms around her waist. Charles smiled as she leaned back against him, wrapping herself tighter in his embrace and couldn’t help but imagine himself in the role of protector.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I’ve mixed the Herbert family history (the Earls of Carnarvon) with Crawley family history, I did use a lot of the history of Highclere Castle, which can be found on their website, in the guide book you can purchase from the gift shop, or if you read the books that the current Countess of Grantham has published. All are interesting reads, and I imagine that most of you may have already read them.
> 
> *the 5th Countess of Carnarvon really did redecorate the Stanhope bedroom in 1895 and the Drawing Room in the same year, she was however called Almina not Evelyn. Evelyn was in fact the name of her daughter.
> 
> **this is an true story, though rather than hiding antiques during a divorce, it was where the 6th Earl hid several Egyptian artefacts, which were then recovered in the mid 1980’s.
> 
> ***the portrait of the 6th Countess really does hang in the smoking room, and she was called Catherine, however her surname was Wendell not Lindquist.


	11. Chapter 11

Charles looked at his reflection in the mirror as he checked his tie was sorted properly. He had never been a fan of black tie events and he was only really going to this one, because his friends were making him. Well that and Elsie had promised him a very special treat if he behaved. Something that certainly made him more eager for the night to be over. He gave his reflection a nod in the mirror, as he finally felt satisfied with how he looked. He pulled back the sleeve of his shirt and checked his watch to see what the time it was.  
“Els, are you nearly ready?” he called in the direction of the en-suite where she had disappeared three quarters of an hour ago.  
  
“Somewhat,” she called back, as she opened the door and walked out into the room. Charles let out a low groan, as he noticed she was only wearing a silk robe with a pair of open toed lace court shoes. Through a slight opening at the top, he could see a hint of cleavage and the black lace of a bra. Just the mere thought of those two items of clothing sent his blood rushing south. It also didn’t help matters that her hair still hung loose, with some slight kinks in it, where it had dried naturally instead of being blow dried.  
  
“You’re not planning on wearing that are you?” he asked as he moved over to her and placed his hands on either side of her hips as he pulled her against him.

“No I’m not,” she smiled, “but you, my love,” she added unaware of her slip, “will have to wait until I appear downstairs. I want you to see the full effect all at once,” Elsie smiled as she moved her hands up his chest to straighten his tie. She then reached up on tiptoes and pressed her lips against his. As she pulled away from him, Charles tightened his hold on her and pulled her closer deepening the kiss as he did so. They allowed themselves to get lost in the moment but as Elsie felt him slip his hands inside her robe, she gently, but firmly pushed him away from her. “Later,” she smirked as she tightened her robe.

“Alright,” Charles huffed, “I’ll see you down there,” he added as he walked out of the bedroom door, but not before he caught another glimpse of black lace underneath the robe.

Elsie smiled as she watched him walk away, before she walked over to the wardrobe and pulled out the garment bag. She unzipped it and looked at the dress again. Thomas had been right to get her to try it on, as it fitted her perfectly and looked much better on her, than it had on the hanger. Yet at the same time, a sliver of doubt was present in her mind that maybe it would look out of place amongst everyone else’s outfits. She shook her head and sat down at the dressing table, and began to fix her hair into the style she wanted it.

\--x--

As he walked down the stairs, Charles noticed all the work that had gone into making the Saloon look like a fitting location for the gala. The furniture had been moved out, with roughly twenty round tables each seating eight placed around the outside of the room. Each table had a magnificent centrepiece of tulips and calla lilies in a vase with gold ribbons tied around the neck.  Each chair had, had white fabric draped over it, with the same gold ribbon as the centrepieces tied around the backs of the chairs. Each table also had two little tea candles in a low glass bowl and fine crystal wine glasses beside each place setting.

The space the tables had left had been made into enough space for an 8x9 stage and room to dance. That last thought filled Charles with dread, he wasn’t that much of a dancer. He could move about just enough so as not to make a complete idiot of himself. Even though the guests weren’t due to arrive until quarter past seven, the band had already arrived and had set up. In one corner of the make-shift dance floor he could see Sybil and Tom dancing around to the band who were playing a few songs just to check all their instruments were in working order. Just outside of the door that led to the library Charles saw that there was a seating chart set up, so that people would know where they would be sat. He made his way over to it and looked for his and Elsie’s names. He scanned each set of eight, and noted that many of the people in attendance were senior doctors, and members of the board of directors at York General Hospital. There were also a few local celebrities and people with deep pockets that always appeared at these kind of events. Charles only hoped that he and Elsie wouldn’t be sat at a table with anyone that Elsie had scammed in the past. Purely because he didn’t want Elsie to get embarrassed or upset. As he found their names, he breathed a sigh of relief as he noted that they were at table number 2 with the Clarkson’s, Branson’s and a few others.  
  
Charles walked around the room looking for table number 2 so that he would be able to lead Elsie straight to their table with only a quick glance at the seating chart. He found that they were on one of the tables nearest to the dance floor and going by each individual menu and place setting, they were sat side by side.

He picked up one of the menus and studied it, seeing what their options for the dinner were. For a starter they had a choice of either a twice baked goat’s cheese soufflé with an apple and walnut salad, halloumi stuffed peppers or smoked salmon with prawns, horseradish cream and lime vinaigrette. The mains choices were a squash, ricotta and sage pasta bake, butternut chilli or flambéed chicken with asparagus. The choices for desert were an elderflower and raspberry jelly, a slice of an amaretto meringue cake with strawberries and cherries or a lychee and ginger sorbet. Charles also gave a nod of approval to the wines selected. Though from the stories of the previous charity galas for the York General Hospital Trust, Charles wasn’t surprised. The Crawley’s always did go for the catering companies that knew their onions when it came to complimentary wines.

                                                                                                                              -x-x-  
  
Charles stood beside one of the tables and wondered where Elsie was. He had left their room almost half an hour ago but there was still no sign of her. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Robert approach him, a tumbler of scotch in his hand.  
“Here you go, old chap,” Robert said as he passed the glass over, “so where is the lovely Elsie? Surely she hasn’t left you all alone?”  
  
“No, she’s still getting ready,” Charles replied, a hint of nervousness in his voice. He knew that Elsie wouldn’t run away but there was part of him that wondered if she would actually come down this evening.  
  
“And have you told her about your job yet?” Robert asked.  
  
“Not yet,” he replied as he took another sip from the glass, “but I will soon,” he added as he put his empty glass down, “with Elsie, I feel freer than I have in recent years.”  
  
“I would do it this weekend if I were you,” Robert muttered under his breath. The sooner, Elsie found out about Charles, the sooner she could get rid of Carlisle. He couldn’t help but wonder just what it was that Carlisle had on her. What on Earth would a man who ran his life and empire on scandal, want with a creative writing teacher from an adult learning centre.  
  
“What?” Charles asked wondering what his friend was on about.  
  
Robert was about to reply, when he sensed that Charles’ mind was no longer on the conversation. He followed his line of sight to see Elsie walking down the oak staircase. Robert smiled at the look on his friend’s face, before he walked off to find his wife. As he watched Elsie walk down the stairs, Charles felt as though he’d lost all power of speech. Her hair had been swept back into an elegant chignon. The dress was made of black velvet, with a Bardot neckline, and a thigh high split on the left hand side. Charles made his way across the hall towards the bottom of the staircase. As she drew near to him, he noticed that she was wearing minimal make up and the only jewellery was a silver pendant and a pair of diamond stud earrings. Elsie ducked her head shyly as she noticed the intensity of his gaze. If it hadn’t already been lost to her, Charles was sure that this would have been the moment his heart became hers and hers alone.  
“You look…” he tailed off unable to find words that would do her justice.  
  
“Thank you,” she smiled as she looked back up at him.  
  
_‘Does she have any idea how alluring she looks when she does that?’_ Charles thought as she continued to look up at him through her eyelashes. At that thought, his train of thought immediately turned to another time Elsie had looked at him like that and what had happened. It had led to him staggering backwards in a blissful sated state, against Elsie’s front door, in the darkened porch. Both had been too eager to actually get inside before anything had happened. Charles shook his head to clear the images from his mind, as he noted that Elsie’s alluring look and been replaced by a smirk as if she knew exactly what he had been thinking. He held out his arm to her and when she took it he led her into the library, where the guests would start arriving for cocktails within the next five minutes or so.  
   
                                                                                                                       -x-x-x-  
  
As she watched Robert walk onto the stage, Elsie had to hand it to Cora, she knew her timings well. The flyer that Cora had shown them the previous day, had mentioned that dinner would be served from a quarter to eight to nine pm. A quick glance at Charles’ watch confirmed that it was in fact nine pm. Elsie tuned out as she watched Robert begin the charity raffle. As the room was full of people who had been more than happy to part with their cash on account of helping the hospital trust, it had been £10 per raffle ticket. Elsie had balked at the price, but as Charles had pointed out, the prizes on offer were not of the same ilk you usually saw at a normal raffle. The prizes included an all-expenses paid trip for two to Florence in April, and a range rover (donated by Robert’s brother in law who owned several range rover dealerships). She slid an arm through Charles so that they were linked, and rested her head against his shoulder as Robert proved to be a more than capable MC.

“They should have asked you to do that,” Elsie murmured as she waved her free arm in the direction of the stage.  
  
“Why?” Charles asked, as the applause broke out for someone who had won the range rover.  
  
“You have such a lovely rumbling voice,” she smiled, as she tried to ignore the thought of what that rumbling voice sounded like when he whispered into her ear in the throes of passion.  
  
Charles shook his head at Elsie and smiled at her before he turned his attention back to Robert. He was well aware of what his voice did to her, especially when they were in bed and it caused her to tighten around him as her back arched while she cried out his name.  
  
He had never been so glad to hear someone say his name as he had been in that moment. Especially as it meant his body hadn’t had a chance to react to thoughts of their recreational activities. Charles noticed that Robert was beckoning him to come up on stage. He knew that this meant he had won a prize, he just didn’t know what it was. He unhooked Elsie’s arm from his and made his way over to the stage where Robert handed him a thin brown envelope.  
“Lucky bastard,” Robert smiled, as he shook his hand.

* * *

“You’ve been very lucky this weekend haven’t you?” Elsie commented as they sat at the table, while other couples began to dance, “first the horses now this trip for two to Florence.”  
  
“I told you, you’re my lucky charm,” he replied, as he added a light kiss to her cheek, “you will come with me won’t you?”  
  
“Where?”  
  
“To Florence. Next spring?”  
  
“Yes,” she replied, hating herself.  
  
She could see the hope in his eyes that there would still be a ‘them’ in eight months. She wanted it to be true. Desperately so. But she knew that within a few months, Carlisle would contact her and demand his next payment. Elsie knew she could say no, and risk everything, trust Charles to protect her. However, Elsie was aware that Charles was just a businessman and that against Carlisle there was little to no chance of him being able to protect her. She knew first-hand what Carlisle could be like. Knew that there was a history between him and Charles that Carlisle wouldn’t hesitate to exploit. Everything could, and probably would disintegrate around her. Yet there was a small part that wheedled away at her. The same small voice that was telling her to take the risk. A small part she’d ignored for the past fifteen years. That other life, what could’ve been. _Still a chance_ a voice in her head whispered _if you take it_.  
  
“Elsie?” Charles asked, noting that she seemed to be lost in thought.  
  
“Sorry, I was miles away,” Elsie smiled, “what did you want?”  
  
“I asked if you’d like to dance,” he replied, as the band struck up a slow song. He knew he’d be able to dance to this without making too much of an idiot of himself.  
  
“I’d love to,” she smiled as she accepted his hand and he had led her out onto the dance floor.  
  
He drew her close, placed one arm around her waist, and took her hand in his. He held it firm in his grasp and placed it over his heart. They began to move slowly, in almost perfect unison as they let the melody wash over them.  
  
_‘I’ve never been this close to anyone, or anything_  
I can hear your thoughts, I can see your dreams’ *  
  
As the song continued, Elsie rested her head against his shoulder the gentle thud of his heartbeat, added an extra dimension to the sentiment. She knew was starting down a dangerous path as she allowed her heart to slowly open up for the first time in years.

-x-x-

From his spot in the corner of the room, Charles watched the dancing couple with barely contained jealousy. He had felt jealousy before, but that had never been this intense. This time the jealousy felt like a sharp, cold knife plunged deep within his soul. Charles knew he had nothing to be jealous of. There was no way, Elsie would run off with Dr James Mcelhone, but at the same time it brought home, just how many men were interested in her. It was at that point that Charles had to acknowledge just how far into no man’s land he was. He had intended it to be nothing more than a little game when he first started. Now he no longer knew where the boundary between real and fake was.

‘ _Oh, I’m never gonna be the same again_

_Now I’ve seen the way it’s got to end_

_Sweet dream, sweet dream’_ **

As the song came to an end, Charles watched through narrowed eyes as her dance partner spun her around and dipped her backwards slightly, causing her to laugh.

‘ _That’s it,’_ he thought to himself. As the band struck up another song, this time, one that had a bit of a 1940’s feel and what seemed like a bit of a Brazilian influence in the background. He walked across the dance-floor to where Elsie was about to start up another dance and tapped the doctor on the shoulder.

“Do you mind if I cut in?” Charles asked when both turned to look at him.

Elsie noticed the look in Charles’ eyes that told her just how jealous he was. Rather than be offended at the thought that he believed her to be his and his alone (well she was a little bit), Elsie couldn’t help but feel a little weak kneed at the sight. Purely as she knew he would never truly hurt her.

“Not at all,” James replied, he too had noted the look that Charles wore. Charles nodded at the man, before he seamlessly cut in, and pulled Elsie close as they began to move around the dance-floor.

 _‘And now it’s more than all these cards_  
You want to touch  
You never know if winning this could really be enough’ ***

As they continued to move, they didn’t break eye contact once. Their feet seemed to instinctively know what to do and which direction to move in. As she listened to the lyrics, Elsie couldn’t help but link them to the situation she now found herself in and how Charles was making her wonder if it was really worth it to cut and run like she normally did.

“Are you alright?” Charles asked as he noted that once again she seemed lost in her thoughts. Elsie nodded in reply, not really trusting herself to speak.

\--x--

“If I could take a moment of your time,” Robert began as he came up on stage to polite applause from the guests, “I just wanted sing the praises of my beautiful wife. Every year, Cora arranges these gala’s to raise vital funds for the York General Hospital, and after many months of planning, arranging, and countless hours of choosing a menu that satisfied both the carnivores and the herbivores,” he added as everyone laughed, “it has finally arrived, and once again she has pulled it off with amazing aplomb. And, my darling wife, where is she?” he asked looking through the crowd.

“Here she is,” Bertie called back, as he and Edith gently pushed Cora towards the stage.

“I thought you’d like to be up here for this. I have here in this envelope,” Robert continued as Cora joined him by his side, “the grand total that you have all helped to raise tonight with your donations and everything else is £653,549.89. Almost £50,000 more than last years gala, or so I‘m told,” he added to rapturous applause, “now, I think its high time I shared a dance with my darling Cora. I have specifically requested this song, as I can remember dancing to this the night I first realised I was in love with a beautiful and talented American who in my opinion, could do much better than me,” he finished as he held out a hand to Cora and the band began to play.

As she watched the way the Crawley’s were with each other, Elsie couldn’t help but smile. It was quite clear to everyone just how deeply in love with each other they were. It made her think that maybe at some point, she too would find someone that looked at her like that. She smiled as she felt Charles turn her around to face him, so that they could share another dance.

 _‘Well, I hope that I don’t fall in love with you,_  
Cause falling in love just makes me blue’

Elsie inwardly groaned as she realised what song it was. Especially as she could understand and relate to every single word mentioned. She could not allow this to happen, at least she didn’t think she could. Yet as her head came to rest upon Charles’ shoulder once again, Elsie found that practically every argument she could draw up seemed to disappear like wisps of smoke. The only thing she could think about was how right it felt.

As the song approached its end, both felt as though they were the only two in the world. Elsie moved her head from his shoulder to look him directly in the eyes. She was about to say something, but a part of her, didn’t want to spoil whatever spell had come over them in that moment.

 _‘I search the place for your lost face, guess I’ll have another round_  
And I think that I just fell in love with you’ ****

They came to a stop at the same time as the music and continued to just look at each other, unable to articulate anything they were actually thinking. Elsie opened her mouth to say something, but found it curiously dry and no sound wanted to actually come out. Rather than say anything, Charles inclined his head towards the open doors, silently asking if she wanted to get some air. She nodded in reply and allowed him to lead her outside.

* * *

Elsie awoke to a gentle sliver of sunlight drifting through a gap in the curtains. She lifted her head slightly and looked around the room. Her dress from the ball, still lay pooled just inside the door, alongside Charles’ jacket and tie. The rest of his suit, and her underwear were scattered around the room. She put her head back against the pillow and looked over at him. He was led on his front, his head turned to face her, arm slung over her hip.

Elsie laid back down and turned over so she was led on her back. She folded her arms on top of the covers and looked up at the curtains of the four poster bed, her eyes searching out the patterns in the fabric. She let her mind drift lazily over the events of last night, the gala, the dancing, the slow almost reverent way that their bodies had moved together, the intensity of Charles’ gaze that she hadn’t been able to tear her eyes away from. Just the mere thought of how completely she had come undone caused shivers to travel down her spine.

Of course she was hardly an innocent and had experienced mind blowing sex before, but there had been something in the mix that had made it feel different than any other time before. As she continued to think back over the previous night, it suddenly hit her why it had felt different and it wasn’t something she had anticipated.

\--x--

Charles walked down the path towards the gardens. It had been a while since he’d last been up there (he and Beryl had taken their mum to visit the Abbey gardens for her birthday three years ago) but he still remembered the way. It was just a question of finding which garden she was in. As he approached the wall that separated the grounds from the Monks Garden, Charles noticed a solitary figure walking towards the entrance to the Secret Garden. Even from this distance, he knew that it was Elsie.  He quickly followed her path and pushed open the gate. He watched from a distance as Elsie stopped in front of a bush of delphiniums and day lilies, her fingers lightly grazing the petals before she walked a few centimetres away and sat down on a bench almost fully obscured by bushes full of flowers. He stood and watched her for a few moments, before he walked over to her and coughed slightly to get her attention.

Elsie raised her head to look at him and smiled before she turned her attention back to the flowers in all of their early morning glory. On one hand, she was glad to see Charles, quiet moments had been a little hard to come by this weekend. But on the other hand, she wished for a little bit longer to herself if only to make sense of the raging thoughts that swirled around her mind. She knew now without a doubt that her heart had entered play and she was well on the way to it being lost completely. Elsie knew she was going to have to make a choice soon between risk and safety. She just didn’t know if the risk was worth it.

Charles walked over to the bench, and sat down beside her. From the look on her face he could tell she was deep in thought over something. Rather than push her into talking, Charles settled for just sitting beside her in silence. After a few moments of contemplation, he felt Elsie pick up his hand and lace their fingers together. Not for the first time, Charles noted how well their hands fitted together. His thoughts then turned back towards the conversation he’d had with Beryl last week, and something she had mentioned about his relationship with Elsie.  
  
The silence was broken by the sound of Charles’ mobile ringing. He pulled it out of his jacket and looked at the display screen. He smiled apologetically at Elsie, before he stood up and answered it.  
“Hello,” he said as he walked away from Elsie, this was not a conversation she should hear.  
  
“Sorry to bother you on the weekend Carson,” Lord Parsons said, even across the phone, Charles could sense there was a hint of something in his voice that lacked its usual bite. Almost like he was distracted, “but it’s important. Can we meet later today?”  
  
“I’m in Yorkshire.”  
  
“Oh right, I’d forgot sorry,” he replied, “when are you due back?”  
  
“We leave tomorrow morning.”  
  
“Ok, can we meet Tuesday afternoon?” Lord Parsons asked, “say 3 o’clock, my office?”  
  
“I’ll see you then,” Charles replied “is it to do with the job?”  
  
“In a manner of speaking. I’ll see you Tuesday.”  
  
Charles held the phone to his ear for a moment longer, after the phone call had ended. He could sense that something was wrong. He really hoped that Lord Parsons hadn’t had another private investigator tailing him to make sure he was doing his job. Mostly because while he was aware of the fake relationship that Charles was cultivating, Charles wasn’t sure that Lord Parsons would be too impressed about the fact that he wasn’t sure how much of the relationship was fake anymore. And if anyone had overheard the conversation he’d had with his sister about Elsie last Thursday in her bakery, then he knew it would not end well.  
“Are you alright?” Elsie asked as he walked back towards her.  
  
“Fine,” he replied as he sat down on the bench beside her.  
  
“You don’t sound it,” she commented, as she tilted her head up to look at him.  
  
“Then I will be,” Charles amended, as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. He pressed a kiss to her temple and leaned back to look up at the cloudless blue sky. As he felt Elsie move closer to him, Charles couldn’t help but think ahead to Tuesday and just what he would say to Lord Parsons. Especially as he was no longer certain, he could do the job the way he had intended.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs mentioned in the chapter:
> 
> * Amazed by Lonestar  
> ** Strange Magic by Electric Light Orchestra  
> *** A Night Like This by Caro Emerald  
> **** I Hope That I Don’t Fall In Love With You by Tom Waits.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song referenced in this chapter is 'Salvation' by Gabrielle Aplin

As the sun rose over the hills of Yorkshire, Elsie sat in one of the chairs by the window lost in her own thoughts. They were still a raging mass of incoherency. On one hand she was certain that she was falling for Charles. There was no two ways about it and she knew that if she took the chance, she would more than likely end up happier than she could ever recall being. But on the other hand, Elsie wasn’t sure that either of them were strong enough to stand up against Richard Carlisle with all of his bullying and blackmail techniques. She was also unsure that she actually wanted to take that risk and put all of her trust in Charles. She heard her phone vibrate against the hard wood of the desk, and picked it up. She typed in her passcode and tapped the message icon.

She smiled as she saw the picture attachment and message from Becky.

‘ _Monrin Eslie. Bekcy xx’_

Even though she wondered why Becky was actually up at 5am, Elsie couldn’t help but admire the fact that Becky could find the beauty in the simplest things. The picture was a bit out of focus, a mesh of pale colours and taken from the un-open window, but Elsie still loved it. She raised her phone and snapped a picture of the view as the sun rose behind Heaven’s Gate, before she sent it as a reply. Elsie smiled as she thought back on her childhood and the days when they were up before the larks to help feed the chickens – well Elsie would help feed them, Becky chased them around the yard. The days when their father hadn’t drank, or gambled. The days when she and Becky would run up the hill and watch the sun come up.

Her sister was one of the main reasons she was hesitating in making a decision of any kind. Whatever money didn’t go to Sir Richard, or to her living expenses, went straight into a fund for Becky’s care so that she’d always be looked after if anything happened her. Outside of Thomas, no one else knew about Becky. Well Carlisle knew too and for the past ten years since he’d found out, he would often use her as a bargaining chip whenever Elsie tried to back out of anything. If she took the risk, she would have to tell Charles about Becky and it was not something she would do lightly.

Elsie looked over her shoulder at the sound of a soft rustling. She smiled as she saw that Charles had shifted his position on the bed and was now hugging her pillow as if it was her. She smiled before she stood up and made her way back over to the bed. She climbed back under the covers, and pulled his arm around her. She knew that Charles would prefer being curled up to the real thing, instead of a pillow that smelled like her.

“Elsie,” he murmured.

“Go back to sleep,” she replied as she stroked her finger from his forehead to the tip of his nose, before she leaned in and pressed a small kiss to it.

As she felt Charles pull her closer, Elsie closed her eyes in the hope that a bit more sleep might help calm her thoughts so she would be able to make a decision.

* * *

When Elsie next awoke, she saw Charles stood looking out of the window as he spoke to someone on the phone. She got out of bed and walked over to him, before she slid her arms around his waist and pressed a kiss between his shoulder blades.

“Alright, I’ll be there…no I can’t guarantee Elsie will be with me,” he said as he turned around to face the woman in question who looked up at him with a furrowed brow. ‘ _My sister_ ’ he mouthed. Elsie nodded in reply and moved to sit in one of the chairs while Charles finished his conversation, “I’ll probably arrive about five…ok I’ll see you then, bye Beryl.”

“Problem?” Elsie asked as he sat down opposite her.

“No, my sister is having a Bank Holiday Monday barbecue this afternoon,” Charles replied “and was calling to invite me,” he added, “you too, if you wanted to come along.”

“You want me to meet your sister?” she asked feeling an odd mix of elation and fear, as she watched him nod in reply. As a rule, she didn’t meet family members, there was always a chance it would lead to problems later done the line. ‘ _Well I’ve broken all my other self-imposed rules_ ’ she thought to herself, “alright,” she added as she took a deep breath “I would like to come with you and meet your family.”

\--x--

As they waited for Charles’ car to be brought around, Elsie felt the nerves creep in and not even the man stood a few feet away, could help calm her down. Elsie would be meeting Charles’ sister Beryl and her family on their return to London. Even though Charles had sworn it would all be alright and the meeting wouldn’t change anything, her nerves still took over. Meeting his friends was one thing, but his family? That was unchartered territory for her. Even when she’d been with Oliver, she’d only met his mother twice in passing. Not long enough to actually have Jemima Parsons form an opinion on her. This was different. This was a planned meeting and it would last long enough for an opinion to be formed. Elsie also got the sense that this meeting would make up her mind one way or another over which path she would actually take.

As they could see that Elsie was deep in thought over something, Robert, Cora and Charles left her in peace as they chatted amongst themselves.

“I hope we’ll be seeing more of her,” Cora said, “especially if it means you won’t decline any more of our invitations,” she added.

“I think any return appearances depends on Charles,” Robert commented, “especially as he has yet to tell her his real job.”

“You haven’t?” Cora exclaimed as she fixed Charles with a bit of a pointed glare.

“Thank you Robert,” Charles replied, as he sent a glare in his friends direction, before he turned back to face Cora, “it just hasn’t come up yet, I don’t want her to think this is all a game to me, that I’m just with her for a job,” he added, even though he knew it was the truth. Or at least it had been.

“She’s not though is she,” Robert laughed, “I’ve seen the way you look at her. No one could fake that look.”

As if to illustrate his point, Charles looked over at Elsie who was stood looking out over the grounds. The look on Charles’ face could only be described as one of pure, unadulterated adoration. The crunch of gravel, made them all turn around to see one of the hired staff pulling up with Charles’ car. The sound had also snapped Elsie out of her thoughts and she walked over to them. After a quick kiss to her cheek, Charles walked over to the car, while Elsie turned to face Robert and Cora.

“Thank you for inviting me,” Elsie said as Charles checked everything was in the car and ready.

“Think nothing of it,” Cora smiled as she hugged the other woman, “I hope we’ll see you again.”

“We’ll see,” Elsie replied with a tight smile. Any return appearance would be predicated on her relationship with Charles and until she made up her mind, that was something she just didn’t know about.

“Thank you,” Elsie whispered as she hugged Robert, not just saying thanks for the weekend but for his help with Carlisle at Ripon Racetrack the other afternoon.

“It was nothing,” Robert replied as they broke apart. Elsie smiled at him before she walked over to the car and climbed into the passenger side. As Charles started the engine, Elsie raised a hand in a wave.

“I hope it works out for them,” Cora sighed, as she watched them drive off, “they make such a lovely couple and its nice to see him happy.”

\--X--

Elsie rested her head against the window, as the countryside sped by. She had offered to drive part of the journey, but Charles had insisted on driving, mostly as he knew the way to Beryl’s like the back of his hand. Despite her offer, she had been glad that he had decided to drive, as it gave her more time alone with her thoughts. Every time she resolved to take the chance, and tell Charles everything. Another thought would cross her mind, and she’d change it all over again. _This would be so much easier, if I wasn’t falling for him_ she thought. Though she did have to acknowledge the fact that if she hadn’t been falling for him than this wouldn’t be a problem. She heard the familiar strains of a song on the radio, and smiled as she recalled Becky telling her all about the singer. Elsie leaned forward slightly and turned the volume up a fraction. Though as she heard which song it was, she wished she hadn’t turned it up. No matter how much it made her think of Becky.

“Do you like this song?” Charles asked

“I do,” she replied, “it makes me think of my sister Becky as she really loves this singer.”

“Who is she?”

“Gabrielle Aplin, I think this one’s called Salvation,” she replied, as she turned her head back to look out of the window.

_I never meant to fall for you, but I_

_Was buried underneath and all that I could see was white._

_My salvation, my, my._

Elsie chanced a look over at Charles who stared at the road ahead and wondered if it made him confused about any of his feelings in regards to her. She then leant her head back against the window. While it was silly to think of him as a form of salvation, Elsie couldn’t help but think that maybe if she told him everything, maybe he could be.

\--x--

Charles pulled up in the driveway of the four bed roomed house and Elsie couldn’t help but feel as though the word ‘home’ was being screamed at her. Something about it, seemed right, as though it was saying ‘ _yes, this is a family home. This is a safe place._ ’ As they got out of the car, Elsie looked up at the house and could just imagine how much fun his nieces and nephews must have living here.

“This is a gorgeous house,” she commented as she got out of the car.

“It is,” Charles agreed, “Beryl and Bill brought it seventeen years ago not long after they got married,” he added as the front door opened and a woman with fly-away red hair came out to greet them.

“I wondered when you two would show up,” she said as she approached them, “Beryl Mason,” she added as she thrust her hand out for Elsie to shake. “Charles’ sister, well half sister but who cares? Right?” she laughed, “actually, come here,” she finished as she threw open her arms and pulled Elsie into a hug.

“Elsie Hughes,” she replied as she was released from the hug, “its nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet _you_ ,” Beryl commented, “Charlie boy here, has not stopped talking about you. Whenever I get him on the phone its Elsie this, and Elsie that,” she added with a smirk in Charles’ direction.

Elsie turned to look at Charles with a raised eyebrow and unsuccessfully fought back a laugh at the embarrassed look on his face.

“I’m sure its not that often,” Charles commented with a hasty cough.

“Oh but it is,” Beryl stage whispered, “now come on inside, there’s some people you should meet,” she added as she hooked an arm through Elsie’s and led her inside, leaving Charles to follow in their wake.

Half an hour later, Elsie was sat on the patio with a cold glass of wine, while she watched Charles being chased by his nieces eight year old Ellie and twelve year old Leanne. Charles caught sight of her watching him and smiled, before he got tackled to the ground by his nieces.

“What have I told you about tackling your uncle Charlie?” Beryl asked as she walked out carrying a tray of meat, followed by her stepson William with a tray of foiled corn on the cobs.

“Not to do it,” the girls chorused.

As she watched the family interact, Elsie couldn’t help but smile. Seeing Charles in this light definitely helped make things a little easier to unscramble her thoughts and helped part of the way to helping her make up her mind. It helped her to know that if she did back out on her arrangement with Carlisle, there would be a supportive family unit around her. _When the hell did I start seeing them as my family_ , she thought to herself.

“I can hear you thinking from over there,” Charles commented as he made his way over to her.

“I’ve a lot to think about,” Elsie replied.

“Anything I can help with?” he asked as he sat on the chair beside her.

“Not just yet,” she smiled, “but when I’m ready you’ll be the first person I turn to,” she added before she leant in and kissed his cheek.

\--X--

Several hours later, Elsie was sat at the kitchen table with Beryl. Ellie and Leanne had gone to bed, William had headed out to meet his girlfriend and Bill and Charles were still out in the garden. Beryl had spread out the old photo albums across the kitchen table and was taking great delight in showing Elsie all the photos from Charles’ youth.

“And here he is on Scarborough Beach,” Beryl said holding out a small photo of a small boy stood by several sandcastles, and holding a bucket and spade, “and here we are after our Aunt Mary’s wedding. She did love the style and the show,” she added as she passed Elsie a picture of two young children. Eight year old Beryl was in a frilly blue dress and five year old Charles was dressed in what could only be described as a Victorian style page boys outfit. Elsie couldn’t help but suppress the snort of laughter that escaped.

“Oh I’m sorry I shouldn’t laugh,” Elsie said as she turned to face Beryl.

“Don’t apologise,” Beryl commented, “I laugh at them all the time,” she added, “Charles hates them of course but…”

“Charles hates what?” came a voice from behind them. Both women turned around to see Charles and Bill stood in the doorway.

“Nothing,” Beryl and Elsie commented in unison before they both burst out laughing.

“That looks like the photo albums,” Bill commented as they approached the table.

“Beryl,” Charles began warningly, but tailed off as he saw the photo that Elsie still held and noticed the smirk on her face. He groaned lightly before he sat down at the table and rested his head in his hands.

“Oh cheer up,” Elsie said as she lay a reassuring hand upon his arm, “I’m sure I can find some of my old photos out to redress the balance,” she added.

“I think I’ll be fine,” he replied, “as long as she has not shown you any of the baby photos.”

“No, but I was about to,” Beryl commented as she held up a white square photo album, “or maybe I should leave them for an engagement or wedding party when the time arrives,” she exclaimed. Which in turn led to hastily covered up coughing fits from both Elsie and Charles.

\--X--

Elsie pulled on her jacket, while Charles said goodbye to his sister. While Elsie needed a little more time to be absolutely sure, she was certain of what she was going to do.

“It was so lovely to meet you,” Elsie said as she approached Beryl, while Charles said his goodbyes to Bill.

“You too,” Beryl replied, “though he talked about you so much that I rather felt I already knew you,” she added as she hugged her.

“I wish I could say the same,” Elsie joked, “he mentioned his sister and his nieces and nephews, but he didn’t go into much detail.”

“Oh that’s just his way,” Beryl commented with a wave of her hand. She looked over at her brother who was still deep in conversation with Bill, “he’s in love with you, you know.”

“Don’t be absurd, he can’t be,” Elsie commented, even as she tried to calm her heart which had chosen that moment to beat wildly.

“I assure you, he is,” Beryl smiled, “I know my brother, Elsie. I’ve seen him in love before, and it ended badly, so don’t you break his heart alright?” she asked as she fixed Elsie with a steely glare.

“I won’t,” Elsie said quietly, as she bit back the tears that pricked the corners of her eyes.

\--X--

As they walked through the front door of his apartment, Charles couldn’t help but wonder why Elsie had been quiet since they’d left the Mason’s. He didn’t think Beryl had said anything to her as they had seemed quite friendly earlier that day. Especially when they’d demolished a bottle of wine between them while they looked through photo albums. He had also noticed them talking quietly as they’d left but even then Charles hadn’t noticed anything amiss. They’d even hugged as she’d left and Beryl had made him promise to bring her back soon. He also knew that Beryl couldn’t have told her about his actual job he would have heard about it by now if she had. He knew enough about Elsie - or he hoped he did at any rate - to know that she wasn’t the type of woman who would let something build. She would have already yelled at him for concealing the truth from her.

“Are you alright?” he asked as he helped her off with her jacket

“Fine,” she replied as she took off her shoes.

“Have I done or said anything wrong?”

“No,” Elsie smiled as she raised a hand to rest on his cheek, “you’ve been rather wonderful,” she added as she stroked his cheek before she headed in the direction of the bedroom pulling her suitcase behind her.

An hour later, they were sat on the sofa on the terrace, watching the rest of the world go about their business. Two empty glasses sat on the table. Elsie had arranged herself, so that she was sat in his lap and leant against him. Her side was pressed against his chest, her head in the crook of his neck. Charles’ arm was wrapped tightly around her holding her close against him, his fingers lightly stroked her hip. She still hadn’t revealed why she was quiet, but Charles didn’t push her into talking. If it was something important he knew Elsie would tell him in time.

For her own part, Elsie was reflecting on what Beryl had said earlier. While she wasn’t entirely sure that Charles was in love with her, she couldn’t deny there was something deeper at work between them. Yet if what Beryl had said was completely true, then Elsie had a lot to factor into her decision and it was a decision she would have to make fast. The longer this game went on than there was a chance that both their hearts could get broken. _But its not a game anymore is it?_ Whispered a voice inside her mind.

“No it’s not,” she replied quietly.

“Not what?” Charles asked.

“Nothing darling,” she replied, “I just…I…I need a moment,” she added as she uncurled herself from his lap and walked inside, suddenly overwhelmed by all of her concerns, worries and thoughts.

She walked straight into the bathroom and locked the door behind her. She had seen the worried look on Charles’ face and now knew that what Beryl had said was actually true. But it did make things easier for her. She ran the tap and then splashed some water on her face.

Elsie placed her hands on either side of the sink and lowered her head. After taking a deep breath, Elsie raised her head to look at her reflection in the mirror. She now knew what she wanted to do. She wanted to take that risk. While everything could blow up in her face, especially when she backed out of her arrangement with Carlisle, Elsie knew that she stood to gain a lot. She also knew that if this was going to work out, then she was going to have to tell him everything. It wasn’t something that could be told in a matter of minutes. She resolved to tell him by the end of the week. It would give Elsie plenty of time to plan just what she was going to say and the best way to approach it.

\--x--

While he waited for Elsie to return, Charles leant against the railings of the roof terrace, and looked at the lights of the many cars as they headed across Tower Bridge. The weekend had left him in no doubt of how he felt about Elsie. He now knew that he was in love with her. Hopelessly so. As much as he may have wanted to shout it from the rooftops, Charles knew he had to wait for his moment. Especially considering that he had a meeting with Lord Parsons the following day. _Once that meeting is over_ Charles thought _I’ll tell her_. It did cross his mind that Lord Parsons may want him to step up his plan, or an update on how things were going. Charles knew he would have to lie. He couldn’t bring himself to hurt her in that way. Not now he knew how he felt about her.

He shivered slightly when the temperature decreased as the night began to draw in. Charles placed his glass on the small table before he headed inside. He had only walked a few feet into the living room when he saw Elsie enter the room.

“Looking for me?” she smiled as he drew her into his arms.

“Always,” he replied as he kissed her lightly.

When he pulled back, Charles noticed a look in Elsie’s eyes that he hadn’t seen before. He couldn’t put a name to it, but he had an inkling he knew a name it could go by. Elsie trailed a hand down his arm and laced her fingers with his. With only a quirk of her eyebrow, she managed to convey exactly what was on her mind. He nodded slightly and let her pull him towards his room.


	13. Chapter 13

When she awoke, Elsie smiled as she found herself completely cocooned by Charles. He was pressed right up against her back with his right arm was slung over hers and his hand was entwined with hers against her chest. Somehow she had moved in the night so her head was half on the pillow half on his left arm. She moved back a little in order to try and snuggle closer. She couldn’t describe it in so many words, but it felt like the perfect safe place. The one place that she felt no harm could come to her. It felt as though, even in sleep he was protecting her. Elsie knew she should probably hate it, she could look after herself, had done for many years now, but it felt nice. It felt nice to be the protected instead of the protector.  
  
Elsie raised her head from the pillow and looked at the clock on the night stand and saw that it was half past eight. As much as she wanted to stay curled up all day, wrapped up in the warmth of Charles’ arms, but nature was calling. Elsie gently untangled herself from Charles’ embrace and attempted to jostle him as little as possible. As she got out of the bed, she wrapped Charles’ shirt around herself and headed towards the en-suite.  
  
She walked back out and smiled as she saw him led halfway across the bed, his head in the middle of her pillow. She thought about climbing back under the covers, but changed her mind as another idea formed in her mind. She headed out of the bedroom and padded down the corridor towards the kitchen.

Elsie had all the necessary food set out on the sideboard and had switched on the coffee maker. She couldn’t remember the last time she had made breakfast in bed…or when it had been made for her. It wouldn’t be anything like they’d been served over the weekend but she hoped that Charles would appreciate the gesture. She pulled her phone towards her and unlocked the phone so she could check her emails. She hadn’t looked at them since last Friday. As she scrolled through them, she noticed one that had been sent by Sarah a few moments ago:

‘ _Hi Elsie,_

_Would it be possible for us to have a meeting at midday? I need to speak to you about the creative writing course and another slightly important matter._

_Sarah Bunting_

_Director_

_City of London Community Education Centre’_

Elsie sent off a quick reply saying that would be fine before she headed towards the shower. As much as she may have wanted to share breakfast with Charles, she did have some other things to attend to today.

-x-x-

As the morning sun, crept across the bedroom, Charles rolled over fully intending to snuggle up to Elsie. But rather than a warm body, Charles found his arm colliding with a cold space on the mattress. He felt the initial stabs of worry begin to appear but smiled when he heard the sound of the shower from the en-suite. As he sat up and the remnants of sleep left him, he noticed that her clothes still lay around his bedroom. _'How could I think she’d leave me while I was sleeping?’_ he thought to himself as he moved to get out of bed. Thoughts of Elsie in the shower led to other parts of him waking up and he smiled as he headed towards the en-suite.

“Mind if I join you?” Charles asked as he opened the shower door.

“Not at all,” she smiled as he stepped into the shower and pulled her close, before he kissed her lightly.

As the kiss deepened, Elsie found herself pushed back against the tiled wall of the shower, the sudden shock of the cold of the tiles after the warmth of the water sent a jolt of arousal through her. “Aren’t we a little old to be doing this?” she asked as his lips moved to place light kisses along her neck.

“You’re not old,” Charles scoffed, “you’re not a day over 25.”

“You’re lying and you know it,” she retorted as he lifted her up and her legs came to automatically rest around his hips, “but thank you for shaving 17 years off of my age.”

“Well I always claim to be 33 instead of 48,” Charles shrugged only half joking, “besides you’re only as old as you feel,” he added as he lowered his head and began to lick the water droplets off of her collarbone.

“You are also incorrigible,” Elsie commented as his lips followed a trail from her collarbone to her breasts.

“And that’s why you love me,” he quipped looking up at her.

Rather than come up with a retort of any kind or deny his comment, Elsie simply pulled his lips back to hers and stopped all talking for a very long while.

* * *

Elsie stood outside the education centre and checked her watch. She was supposed to be meeting with Sarah at midday and she had a feeling she was a little early. Her suspicion proved right when she saw that it was half past eleven. Normally she wouldn’t have been there that early, and had she relied on the tube she wouldn’t have been as not only did she have to take her case back to her flat she also had to pick up Phyllis’ birthday present in time for the party that coming weekend.

However, Charles had insisted she use his chauffeur to take her to her meeting and around London. If she had known that she could’ve gotten everything done that quickly, Elsie realised she could have spent more time with Charles before she’d left. Not that he hadn’t tried to stop her. As that particular thought sent a warm sensation down her spine, Elsie headed towards the small coffee shop just down the road to get herself a coffee. As she thought about the coming weekend, Elsie thought about returning the favour. She had met Charles’ family so maybe now, it was time for him to meet hers.

“Hi, Elsie take a seat,” Sarah said as Elsie walked through the office door, “did you have a nice weekend away?”

“I did,” Elsie replied as she bit back a smile.

“I can see you did,” Sarah smiled, “I think I’ll have to meet whoever it is that’s put a smile that big on your face,” she added, “what does he do?”

“He’s a financial advisor,” she replied, “so what was it you wanted to meet with me about?”

“You know a few months ago, I asked you, if you would consider taking the class two nights a week?” she asked, Elsie nodded in reply, “well thanks to Alexandra Pearson’s winning entry in the short story competition, and the fact that she’s had offers to write a novel, it has bumped our numbers up further. So how would you feel about it going three nights a week?”

“Three nights?”

“Yes, three running simultaneously, do you think you can do it?”

“I think so,” she replied.

“And thanks to an extremely large and anonymous donation the board are allowing me to bump all our teacher’s weekly pay, so instead of £450 a week, you’ll be getting £750 a week.”

“So that’s about £18,000 for the 24 weeks I work?”

“Yes,” Sarah replied, “so what do you say?”

“Absolutely,” Elsie replied, “have you decided what days yet?”

“Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays if that’s alright with you?”

“It’s brilliant.”

“Excellent,” Sarah said standing up, “I’ll see you on the 15th for the first class.”

Elsie smiled as she left the building, £18,000 a year more than covered her outgoings. She had brought her flat outright fifteen years ago. Her bills never came to that much. The way things were going with Charles she’d probably end up moving in with him by the end of the year. She had enough saved up, from her past jobs to cover Becky’s care. _All in all_ , she thought, _I wouldn’t be totally at a loss if I back out of my arrangement with Carlisle, and call it quits._ If she hadn’t already made up her mind what she was going to do, that definitely would have helped.  
  
It was then that Elsie noticed a sleek, black car waiting for her. She smiled as she recalled the first time that Charles had sent a car to pick her up and imagined Charles doing the same for her now. The smile dropped from her face however, as the door opened and Richard Carlisle stepped out.  
“Allow me to give you a lift, Ms Hughes,” he smiled.  
  
Elsie felt a shiver travel down her spine and thought about refusing until she saw that he had brought his hired henchmen with him.  
“That would be nice thank you,” she replied.  
  
“Where are you going?” he asked

“Wapping High Street,” Elsie replied.

“Well you heard her, drive on,” Richard informed his driver, “I thought it was best we talked away from prying ears,” he added. Elsie knew that he was talking about what had happened at the Racecourse, “it concerns our arrangement.”

“I see,” Elsie commented, trying to keep her voice calm. She knew Carlisle wouldn’t do anything to hurt her. He may have a habit of sinking low to achieve his ends, but there were some lines that he would never cross. Yet it still didn’t stop her worrying. Especially as his henchmen were sat up front.

\--x--

Charles couldn’t help the smile on his face as he walked down Tanner Street. He knew he probably looked like an idiot but he really didn’t care. If this was a movie, he had no doubt that there would be some jazzed up number playing in the background. If he could get away with it, he felt as though he could dance down the road. The only dark spot on the horizon was the meeting with Lord Parsons. If he wanted an update on the case, Charles was going to have to come up with a credible lie as to why he was no longer able to carry through with his plan. He had awoken in the middle of the night and had watched her sleeping. It had left him in no doubt of how he felt about her. He could only see two lies that could really pass as credible. One was to say that it was impossible to ruin her. The other was that she had run away before he could get to her. That Elsie was just better at what she did than he was.

As he pushed open the doors of the office, Charles headed straight for the lifts and pressed the button for the 8th floor.

“Charles Carson, I’m meeting with Lord Parson at 3,” he said as he approached his secretary.

“Sure,” she smiled “he’s running a little late, but he shouldn’t be too long, can I get you a drink?”

“Tea would be great thank you,” Charles replied, “just a tiny bit of milk and two teaspoons of sugar.”

“Certainly.”

“So why did you want to meet me?” Charles asked as he looked over the desk at Oliver.  
  
“Well I wanted to speak to you about the case. You see, circumstances have changed. I no longer wish for you to ruin Elsie. I’m putting a stop to it.”  
  
“Can I ask why?”  
  
“My mother died last week and it changed some things. I didn’t realise that she had met Elsie. Well I did, but I didn’t realise that it had been long enough to judge her. As she lay dying she asked me about Elsie. I told her we were no longer together, and the reasons why,” Oliver replied, “she told me there must be another reason for her to take the money. I didn’t put much stock in it, just assumed it was the ramblings of a dying woman’s mind,” he continued, “then, when I was going through her paperwork, I learned that up until last year, she was caring for her brother who was in a care home. And had been for years, every spare penny she had, went towards his care. It then occurred to me what reasons Elsie may have had for what she did,” he added, “Did she?”  
  
“She did,” Charles nodded, though he was lying a little bit. He had seen her bank statements at the start and knew that her money was going elsewhere. He just wasn’t sure where, though he was sure it had something to do with her sister.  
  
“Ok,” Oliver said with a nod, “like I said I’m calling a stop to the case. I no longer want this. Send me an invoice for what I owe you. The flat rate for your services, any expenses you’ve incurred. I’ll pay for it and send it over to you.”  
  
“Of course,” Charles replied, “Is there any other reason why you want me to stop?”  
  
“You asked me at the beginning of the case if I loved Elsie. The truth is I did. I still do,” he laughed sadly, “there aren’t many women like her. I’m not sure I have it in me to see her ruined anymore.”  
  
Charles left the offices and breathed a sigh of relief. It was over. He no longer had to worry about what would happen if he was found out to be in love with the target. Of course there was still the fact that Elsie didn’t actually know the truth about his job. He would tell her and he would do it today. He needed to come with a reason as to why he hadn’t told her the truth about his job. Of course he would also neglect to mention that it was Lord Parsons who had brought them together. As that could only end in tears. More than likely his.

He had even had another thought to do with their future once he had told her the truth. Though he was unsure of how he would go about it, Charles would even offer to give up the private investigation side of things. He knew that John had never looked back once he’d left the profession. Sure John still did a tiny bit of consultancy and gave a little background if it was needed by his friends that were still in the profession, but he was no longer a PI. Charles also knew that Robert could probably help him find another job, and Beryl would be relieved that he was no longer in danger all the time.

* * *

Elsie unlocked the front door and hurried inside before she leant against it and tried to stem the flow of tears. She had, had it all figured out. She was going to find a way to tell Charles about her life, hoped that he would find a way to trust her still. Yet, Richard’s latest demand had thrown her for a loop. He wanted £10,000 by midday Thursday, and then a further £150,000 within two months. She hung her bag up on the coat rack and headed towards the kitchen. At least with a tea or coffee (laced with a hint of brandy or whiskey) she could calm herself down enough to figure out what to do.  
  
Elsie walked into the living room, and placed her mug on the coffee table before she flopped back onto the sofa. Earlier today she had been sure of what she wanted. Now she wasn’t sure at all. Elsie didn’t want to take the money from Charles, and thought about using her own funds, but she wouldn’t have the time to get it transferred from the holding account to Carlisle’s in time. It crossed her mind to tell Charles the truth when he got back and hope he would help her. _No_ , she thought _he will help. It’s who he is_. She moved to call Charles to find out how long it would be before he returned but another thought made her stop.  
  
Even with Charles’ help, Carlisle still wouldn’t stop. Of course if she backed out of the arrangement she knew there would be retribution of some sort. The amount of dirt that Carlisle had on her and Thomas could fill several newspaper front pages. Well it would if he padded it out with some made up gossip and the names of everyone she’d scammed. She had already guessed that there was history between Charles and Carlisle so there would probably be some dirt on him that would get leaked out. He wouldn’t hesitate to drag the names of the Molesley’s and her sister through the dirt either. Of course with those he would actually have to make it up. Elsie also knew that he wasn’t above using violence to get what he wanted as well. In that moment Elsie could really only see two options; back out of the arrangement and hope that Carlisle wouldn’t cause too much trouble. Or take the money from Charles, pay him back with her own funds and end the relationship, before anyone else got hurt. Except herself.

She walked over to the small pile of documents that sat on Charles’ desk and began to look through them to find what she was looking for. She hated herself for doing it, and knew there was no way back once she had done it. All the papers proved to be useless but she had noticed an A4 brown file tucked underneath some insurance documents.

Elsie picked up the brown file and hoped that this would contain what she was looking for. She ran a hand across the front of it, before she walked across the room and sat back down on the sofa. ‘ _Do I really want to do this?_ ’ she thought. She knew that he had fallen for her, she could see it. His sister, Beryl, had also said as much. She had completely fallen herself. She had needed a lot of time to sort out her thoughts. Once she had done that, it was extremely clear to Elsie exactly what the one over-riding thought was.  
  
“I love him,” she sighed.

Despite everything she had fallen for Charles and she had decided she was all in. She now wanted nothing more than to see just where this relationship could go. Even if it had started by somewhat unorthodox means, it still could be extraordinary, she thought to herself as she tried to contain the smile that had chosen that moment to break out. She placed the file on the coffee table and stood up to take her mug into the kitchen

“Bugger,” she muttered as she knocked the file off of the table. As she bent down to pick it up, she frowned as she saw a picture of her that had fallen out of it. She thought nothing of it though, as it could easily have been the photo she had given him that had been knocked inside the file accidentally. As she placed it back in the file, she caught sight of her name on a typed document.  
  
Elsie flipped open the file and was shocked at what she saw. She shakily raised a hand to her mouth and sat down on the sofa. Charles was a private investigator and had been paid by Oliver Parsons to ruin her. To get back the money she’d taken. As she flicked through the various sheets of paper, Elsie felt physically sick. She couldn’t believe any of it. It crossed her mind that this was what her previous men had felt when she’d finished with them.  ‘ _Oh God,_ ’ she thought, ‘ _what the hell have I done?_ ’  
  
Elsie pulled out more sheets of paper, Elsie found both handwritten and typed notes on her various comings and goings all leading up to their first meeting at the casino. There were also various meetings that Charles had held with other private investigators that had crossed her path. There were even copies of her bank statements. She had no idea how he had even got hold of them, though she was fairly certain it was illegal.  
  
She hurried over to the sink and emptied the contents of her stomach. Once she was certain she had finished. She rinsed the sink and pored herself a glass of water. Elsie noted that as she moved the glass to her lips, her hand shook. She swirled the water around her mouth before she spat it back out. She made her way over to the windows and looked out over the city. Elsie couldn’t help but think back over the past few months, now that she knew the truth. Had everything been a lie?  
  
Elsie knew she was guilty of a lot and had felt extremely worse about that with every passing moment over the past month, and especially this past weekend. As her thoughts turned to the weekend, she felt humiliated. She had allowed herself to break her number one rule when it came to these relationships and had fallen for him. Elsie guessed that his friends and family knew what his job was. She couldn’t help but wonder if they had all known she was just another case. Had they all been laughing at her behind her back? Elsie bit her lip to try and stop the tears from falling but was unsuccessful.  
  
Charles unlocked the front door of the apartment and placed his keys on the table before he walked towards the open plan living room to see Elsie sat looking at him. The first thing he noticed was her red-rimmed eyes, she had obviously been crying. Charles felt a sense of unease creep into the pit of his stomach. He hadn’t hurt in anyway had he? At least he didn’t think he had. The second thing he noticed was that on the coffee table was his file on her. In that moment Charles felt as though his whole world had come crashing down around his ears.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for references to miscarriage in the flashback.

For several minutes, both just stared at each other, not speaking. Charles could see not only the tracks of her earlier tears, but the fresh ones that were waiting to be spilled. He couldn’t help the guilt that he felt at the thought that this was his fault. The hurt that had quite obviously cut deep. Three months ago, this would have been a welcome turn of events. It would have proved that there was nothing that he couldn’t do. No lines he wouldn’t cross to do the best for his clients. When he planned the whole thing out, Charles had imagined this scenario to be his coup de grâce. Now, it felt like it was the worst thing imaginable.  
  
“Els…” he began as he took step towards her. As he did so, she took a step back.  
  
“Don’t,” she hissed, her eyes flashed angrily “don’t you dare ‘Els’ me, not after this,” she added indicating the open file, “you _lied_ to me.”  
  
“You sleep with them, let them wine you and dine you and then you take their money,” Charles replied as he walked towards her, “So you can’t go around and play Miss High and Mighty with me. Not when you’re nothing more than a gold digging whore,” he added. He regretted the words the second, he had said them, and knew he had pushed Elsie too far when he felt the sting of her slap against his cheek.  
  
“You know nothing about why I do this,” Elsie replied “you have no idea about anything,” she added, “I thought about not going through with it this time, letting the chips fall where they may and now, I can’t believe that I actually…” she tailed off and turned away from him, not willing to let him see her tears.  
  
“Can’t believe what?” he asked as he placed a hand on her shoulder.   
  
“It doesn’t matter,” she replied, “not now,” she added as she shrugged away from his touch.

“Please,” Charles commented, “just listen to me. Trust me for a few mo…”  
  
“Trust you?” Elsie laughed, but it was a hollow sound, “how on Earth do you think I could trust you after this?”  
  
The words echoed through his mind and cut deep like a knife. Charles sat down heavily on the sofa and gathered up the file before he moved it out of his sight. A mere hour ago, he had been happy. He had been planning for a future with Elsie, now everything was ruined. As he watched Elsie pace back and forth across the floor, Charles couldn’t help but flashback to before it had all gone to pot with Alice, several years back:  
  
_“But what are we going to do?” Alice asked as she paced the floor, “it would have been bad if he had found out that I’d hired a Private Investigator, but the fact that I’m sleeping with you as well. We’ll be lucky if we’re not murdered while we sleep. Grigg has connections.”_  
  
“It will be fine, just trust me.”  
  
“Why should I trust you?”

-x-x-

Half an hour later, both were sat at opposite ends of the sofa. Charles had to admit, he was glad that he had got Elsie to stay at the apartment. At the very least they could talk. Maybe even find a way to build themselves back up to what they had been before this afternoon. He watched as she kept her gaze trained on her hands which were folded in her lap. She switched between studying her palm lines and flicking at the nail varnish that had begun to chip and peel.  
  
“Why Elsie?” Charles asked breaking the silence. He wanted to reach across the space between them and comfort her, but after earlier, he knew it wouldn’t be welcome at all.  
  
“Why what?” she replied as she raised her eyes to look over at him.  
  
“Why any of it?” he asked, “why do you go around taking money?”  
  
“It’s a long story,” she sighed. She was hurt by what she had found out. By what had happened today, but she still wanted him to understand.   
  
“I’ve got time.”  
  
“As you know,” she began as she turned to face him, “I grew up on a farm with my mum, dad and my sister Becky. In the mornings Becky and I would run around the yard helping our parents before we went to school. Money was tight and we’d either have hand me downs or my mum would make them for us. We weren’t alone, most people in our village lived like that. Like most of the other farmers, dad was a drinker and often drank more than was good for him. It didn’t help that Becky had been born different and needed more attention that I did. Either way, he also had a habit of gambling, any money that came in the profits went straight on the horses or the dogs or anything he could bet on. I was eighteen when he died in car accident. It was then we learnt the extent of his gambling debts. We had to sell the farm and mum had to shave a lot off of her savings just to cover his debts,” she continued “once that was covered, we moved. Mum had an aunt in Brighton so she and Becky moved there. I was due to start at university, and she told me to go and make something of myself, not get stuck like she did. I’d been accepted to Queen Mary, University of London to study History and English. I had all these big ideas about what my life was going to be like. But it doesn’t quite turn out the way you planned.”  
  
“I can understand that,” Charles muttered, “so what happened?”  
  
“I was just finishing university, when my mum died suddenly,” Elsie replied, “brain embolism, one minute she was here, the next,” she punctuated her comment with a click of her fingers, “my great aunt couldn’t cope with looking after Becky as well as her own ailing health, so I researched care homes and put Becky into Cyprus Tree Lodge Care Home. Any plans I had went right out the window, I needed a job and fast.”  
  
“And that’s how you met Carlisle?”  
  
“No, I didn’t meet him then,” she replied “I ended up working at Rossum, Dawson & Cole, as a secretary. Not exactly where I planned to be, but it would at least give me a decent enough wage to look after Becky and rent someplace tiny,” Elsie added. She smiled as she remembered the small one bedroom apartment with hardly any space but it was her first proper home. “Anyway after a year, I crossed paths with Douglas Andrews.”  
  
“As in…” Charles tailed off.  
  
“Yes,” Elsie replied, “as in the heir to the Andrews Radio and Television Empire.”  
  
“And was he the first one?”  
  
“First of a lot of things actually,” Elsie replied a little wistfully. There had been good moments before all of the crap that comprised the end of their relationship.  
  
“So what happened?”  
  
“I moved to his father’s company, and was one of the secretary’s that worked in his office. Then after two years, I found out I was pregnant.”

* * *

_Elsie stared down at the stick in her hands unable to believe that this was happening. This was not on the cards for her. At least not at this moment in time._ _I_ _f ever. It had never even crossed her mind. Elsie shook her head slightly and threw the test in the bin. It didn’t help matters that earlier she had realised exactly what Douglas’ recent late night meetings had entailed. She tilted her head back so it rested against the radiator in the bathroom and thought about what her next move would be. Well her first move would be to get confirmation from a doctor then she would plan her what to do next. Whatever she chose to do, Elsie knew she’d have to tell Douglas. It was too big to not tell him. Even if things between them had been strained recently and he had been shagging his secretary Ethel, he still deserved to know._

_-x-x-  
_

‘ _Ok,’ Elsie thought to herself as she walked towards Douglas’ office, ‘you can do this,’ she added. She looked through the window of his office and saw that he wasn’t in a meeting or on a phone call. She took a deep breath and pushed open the door. Douglas looked up as he heard the door open and smiled tightly when he saw it was Elsie._

“ _Can I talk to you?” she asked as she bit her lip._

“ _Sure,” he replied, “what is it?”_

“ _I went to the doctor yesterday,” Elsie began, “I’m pregnant,” she added, “about seven weeks, he thinks.”_

_She watched as Douglas studied her intently, the silence between them grew thick, and she thought she saw his eyes narrow slightly. She gripped the back of the chair as she waited to hear what he was going to say._

“ _You’re not keeping it,” Douglas said finally._

“ _Excuse me?” Elsie asked, she wasn’t sure exactly what she was going to do about the pregnancy, but she did know that no one was going to tell her what to do._

“ _I said you are not keeping that thing,” he replied as he stood up, “how do I even know it’s mine?”_

“ _You know it is. Unlike you, I don’t shag someone else while I’m in a relationship.”_

“ _Well it took you long enough to figure it out,” he sneered, “now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a lunch meeting.”_

_Elsie watched as he walked away. She couldn’t believe he had actually tried to turn the affair round onto her. As she turned to leave, she caught sight of his cheque book and a plan formed in her mind. Normally she would never entertain the idea, it went against everything she believed in. Yet part of her really wanted to hit Douglas where it hurt. The only thing he truly loved was his money. Well his family’s money. She also knew that he wrote so many cheques as bribes and blackmail that he wouldn’t even think twice if he noticed another one missing from his book._

_She looked out of the window out into the main office and saw that Ethel wasn’t back from her lunch break yet. She sat down at his desk and pulled a pen towards her and began to write. She knew she’d also have to call the bank pretending to be Ethel so they’d be ready to authorise the transfer, but that was easily dealt with._

_-x-x-  
_

“ _So you actually wrote yourself a cheque for £200, 000 as payback?” Thomas asked as he sat opposite her. He had never warmed to Douglas, so to hear that it was over between him and Elsie was music to his ears. Even if the baby meant that she would always be tied to him, Thomas was still glad that for the most part, Douglas Andrews was out of her life._

“ _I did,” she replied with a small smile, “the bastard deserved it. The only thing he cares about is his money so…” she tailed off with a shrug, “then I resigned with immediate effect.”_

“ _Well at least you’re set up for the future,” Thomas commented, “I do get to be Cool Uncle Thomas right?”_

“ _You get to be every male role model they’ll ever need,” Elsie smiled as she reached across the table and squeezed his hand._

_-x-x-  
_

_Thomas had always hated hospitals. He always associated them with death. Not to mention he found them to cold and clinical. Plus he couldn’t smoke inside of them and in instances like this, he could really use one. Elsie had been one of his closest friends since they’d met at university. Especially when she had stuck by and stood up for him after an incident on campus had seen him falsely accused of theft. Not many people in his life had been kind to him, his brash and bitchy nature often put people off. Yet Elsie had been able to look past that and see the insecure person he actually was. She was one of the only people he knew he would be able to depend on. She had been there for him when he had needed her to be. Now it was time for him to be there for her. At the sound of footsteps, Thomas looked up to see the doctor that he had seen Elsie._

“ _Mr Barrow?” she asked. Thomas could tell by the expression on her face that it wasn’t good news. That it was as Elsie had feared, she had lost the baby._

_Thomas walked in the direction that the doctor had pointed him. He walked past the cubicles some with the curtains pulled shut, others wide open. He reached the last cubicle and pulled the curtain back slightly so he could walk in. He shut it behind him and stood there for a moment as he studied the woman sat on the hospital bed. Elsie had pulled her legs up so her knees were against her chest, her arms wrapped around them. In all the years he’d known her, Thomas had never seen her looking so low, so broken. He had no idea what she must be thinking. To feel like your own body had betrayed you._

“ _Shove over,” Thomas commented, knowing that comments like ’how are you feeling?’ or ’you alright?’ would just sound trite._

_Elsie moved over a little so that he could sit beside her. After a few moments, Elsie rested her head against his shoulder. Thomas wrapped an arm around her shoulder and_

_“I did do the right thing didn’t I?” Elsie asked as she raised her head from Thomas’ shoulder, “taking the £200,000.”_  
  
_“Course you did,” Thomas replied, as he squeezed her arm, “he was a twat towards you when you told him. Telling you in no uncertain terms to get rid of it and accusing you of having an affair, when you know it was his. You were thinking about the future, both yours and whoever your child would have grown up to be.”_  
  
_“I guess,” she replied, “at least I can put plenty aside to cover Becky’s care home.”_  
  
_“And move out of the God-awful one bed roomed flat,” Thomas added, drawing a small smile from Elsie._

_-x-x-_

_Elsie waved to Thomas as she stood on the front steps of the block of flats. Since she’d first come to London, he had always looked out for her and vice versa. The moment she’d felt the slightest thing wrong, Thomas had been the first person she’d called. When I’m feeling up to it, she thought, I’m going to do something nice for him. She watched as his car drove around the corner, before she walked inside the building._  
  
_As she neared her front door, she saw a tall man stood waiting for her. She didn’t need to ask who he was. She knew exactly who he was. He and Douglas moved in similar circles._  
 _“Won’t you invite me in Ms. Hughes?”_  
  
_She knew he couldn’t be here for good reasons but at the same time, Elsie knew what Richard Carlisle was capable of. If she didn’t let him in, it could probably be worse on her in the long run._

_-x-x-_

_Elsie regarded the man opposite with barely concealed contempt. She’d heard about Richard Carlisle and the witch hunt he had caused by saying that Douglas’ uncle had been involved with a string of murders in Newcastle that had eventually led to Michael Clark’s suicide. She knew he preyed on the weak, and made himself richer on the misfortune of others. Now he actually wanted the inside story about her relationship with Douglas, and the deals they were involved in._  
_“How did you even know about any of this?” she asked, “I don’t know anything about that.”_  
  
_“Now that’s interesting,” Carlisle commented, “you see, I have my spies all around,” Carlisle added, “and in this case it was a little bird by the name of Ethel who just couldn’t keep her mouth shut when I offered her a substantial sum of money,” he added, “she told me not just about your relationship with him, but how you were aware of some of the deals he and his father were doing. The bribes they took…”_

_“I’m not going to give you what you want,” Elsie replied cutting him off, “so whatever it is you had planned to ask me, the answer is no.”_  
  
_“You know, it would only take a phone call, and I could tell him all about how you faked your pregnancy to try and trap him. Then when he rejected you, you took £200,000 of his money.”_  
  
_“That’s not what happened,” Elsie commented, “and you know it. You know I lost the baby,” she added not denying that she took the money, “I have no doubt you bribed someone at the hospital records department to find out.”_  
  
_“Of course. But why let the facts get in the way of a good story?” he asked, “All I ask for you to tell me what you know. I’ll keep your name out of it, and £100,000 of what you took,” Richard added, “besides it’s not as if you have someone else to look after. Not anymore,” he sneered._  
  
_Almost immediately, Elsie’s thoughts turned to Becky. She still needed to be looked after. Care homes weren’t cheap. Plus if she refused, Carlisle could not only tell Douglas and his family what she did, but the police too. Then there would be no hope. She’d never be able to pay for Becky’s care from a prison cell. It’s not ideal, she thought to herself, but at least I’ll still be able to see Becky and it probably won’t affect my chances of finding another job._

“ _Well?” Carlisle asked_

* * *

“And you obviously gave him what he wanted,” Charles commented, breaking through her retelling.  
  
“I did,” she replied, “and he’s been blackmailing me ever since,” she added, “six months later, he called me up, asking me to scam some money out of a Mr Hunt who had ripped him off. I was foolish enough to think that would be the end of it. But near enough every 6 months to a year, he calls up again asking me to do it again. He only asks for 25% of what I get, and he keeps my name out of the press for what I do. Lord Parsons was the one I wanted to hurt the most, he closed down Cyprus Tree Lodge care home. My sister had been there for eighteen years, and she just had to leave. Phyllis was one of the nurses there, the only one that Becky really liked. I paid her to give up nursing and look after Becky full time.”  
  
“Why did you never go to the police?”  
  
“I was too scared, he has enough of them in his back pockets,” Elsie replied, “so now you know everything, you can do what the hell you want with it,” she added, her voice breaking, as she finally let the tears fall.

Charles placed a hand over hers to offer some comfort, and couldn’t help the hurt he felt when she flinched at his touch before she pulled her hand away from his.  
  
“You know,” Charles said breaking the silence, “this is probably the most honest conversation we’ve ever had,” he added trying to make a joke about the situation.  
  
Elsie smiled tightly before she stood up and walked over towards the window and looked out of it, her arms wrapped tight around her middle. Charles desperately wanted to go over and comfort her, but didn’t know how it would be received.   
  
“What do we do now?” he asked. Elsie turned back around to face him, her bottom lip between her teeth, hurt still evident in her expression.  
  
“I really don’t know,” she replied.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The lyrics mentioned in this chapter come from 'I Love You' by Little Mix

“ _I don’t know if I can trust you anymore.”  
  
“If it helps,” Charles commented, “You know how I feel about you.”  
  
“Do I?” Elsie asked dejectedly, “I thought I knew you and I was wrong. So who’s to say I’m not wrong now?” she added.  
  
Charles was about to reply, when his phone began to ring. Charles looked at the caller display and sighed as he saw it was Beryl. He really didn’t want to speak to his sister, but he knew that Beryl would just yell at him if he didn’t answer his phone when she called._  _As he spoke to his sister, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Elsie pick up her bag and head towards the door. She only looked at him once, and that was to mouth a single ‘I’m sorry’ as she walked out of his apartment. Charles couldn’t help but wonder if that was the end of it._

\---x---

John looked up from the glass he was wiping to see Charles finish another whiskey. He should probably be worried about it, but considering that it was only the second one Charles had in the space of three hours, he wasn’t that worried. He placed the rag over his shoulder and walked over to his friend. Charles wordlessly indicated the glass, before staring back down at the bar.   
  
“Well you can’t say I didn’t warn you,” John commented as he passed Charles the drink.  
  
“I know,” he sighed “I just thought…”  
  
“If it’s any consolation,” John replied, “she didn’t appear to have fallen in love with the others. So maybe there is still a chance.”  
  
“How?” Charles asked as he looked into the bottom of the glass.  
  
“If Anna was here, she’d say make a grand, romantic gesture,” John replied, “this isn’t one of those romantic comedies, this is real life, so think of something you know she needs and work it out from there.”  
  
“John Bates, you’re a bloody marvel,” Charles commented as an idea flitted across his mind, “I think I know just the thing,” he added as he finished his drink and headed out of the pub. He had work to do.

* * *

Elsie sighed as she unlocked her car. If she was only heading down to Brighton for the day, she’d normally get the train. But the way her mind was whirring she needed to drive, if only to stop herself from thinking too much about her situation. The only thing she knew for certain was that there would be no more deals with Carlisle. She’d given him £10,000 of her own money, if only to get him off of her back. His demand of a further £150,000 within two months required a little more thought. She wouldn’t give him any money of that much she was sure. Elsie just needed to figure out how to get him off her back. She had briefly thought about asking Charles for help, just like she had originally intended. Even if he was a private investigator, the fact that he had lied to her about who he really was, made her wonder if she could actually trust him to get Carlisle off of her back. She threw her bag onto the passenger seat before she climbed in. As she turned the key in the ignition, and started the engine, the radio also came on and the lyrics filtered through the speakers as she pulled on her seatbelt.

_And it don’t matter, what no one say_

_Even though it’s broken_

_I love you anyway_

_And I just want to scream out_

_Til my voice breaks_

_Even if the tears fall_

_And my heart hates me_

_Baby I love you_

“That’s enough of that,” she commented to the radio. She decided that she really didn’t need musical accompaniment on this trip and switched it off, before she pulled out of the parking space.

* * *

Elsie pulled up outside the Molesley’s house and felt the tracks of her tears on her cheeks. She hurriedly wiped them away and looked in the rear-view mirror to check that there were no visible signs that she’d been crying. If Becky saw that she was upset, then she would get distressed and it would take hours for her to calm down.

The song really hadn’t helped matters. Even though she had turned the radio off before she’d left London, it still played on her mind. She still loved Charles there was no denying that. But she just wasn’t sure of what she should do. It wasn’t a feeling she was used to. Elsie knew she had no moral high ground, she couldn’t claim to be whiter than white in regards to the truth. Yet, Charles had known practically everything about her, while she’d known absolutely nothing. Except what she thought she knew. Which had turned out to be completely worthless.

As Elsie got out of the car, she noticed that Phyllis was tending to the rosebush in the front garden.

“Hello love,” Phyllis said as she looked up at the sound of the gate opening, “we weren’t expecting you today. Especially as its Becky’s day at the centre today.”

“Oh God so it is,” Elsie commented, “you don‘t mind if I just stay here for a bit, I needed to get out of London for the day.”

“Not at all,” she smiled, “with Katie at school, Joe at work and Becky at the centre, I was going to take a trip down to Churchill Square and The Lanes. You can come along, find a nice little trinket for that man of yours,” she added with a smile. Elsie tried smile in reply, but felt the emotions well up again and she promptly burst into tears, “though it can wait, maybe a cup of tea would be better,” she finished as she wrapped an arm around Elsie’s shoulder and steered her inside.

\--x--

Phyllis looked across at the woman in front of her and smiled. While she would admit to being shocked at what she had learnt, Phyllis couldn’t deny the fact that in Elsie’s shoes she would’ve done exactly the same. She also knew that had she not gotten away from Peter Coyle when she did, she herself could have ended up down a similar route. Not for the first time Phyllis thanked her lucky stars for Joseph Molesley. She reached across the kitchen table and took Elsie’s hand in her own. Elsie raised her head to look up at her friend who smiled encouragingly at her and Elsie gave a watery smile in return as she squeezed Phyllis’ hand.

Throughout every aspect of Elsie’s story, Phyllis had sensed the regret and guilt that had clearly been carried around for so long as well as the deep undercurrent of love that Elsie had for her sister. However wrongly she had gone about it, there was no denying that everything Elsie had done, most of it had been for Becky. She had gone along with Carlisle’s plan if only so she could have some form of money beyond ever dwindling savings so that she could be cared for the way she deserved to be. Most of what was leftover once other costs had been taken into consideration had either gone into an account for Becky’s care or had gone to various charities.

“Sorry I fell apart on you,” Elsie commented as she raised her cup to take a sip.

“I think it was needed,” Phyllis smiled, “though I think maybe it should have been someone else you fell apart in front of,” she added.

“Its complicated,” Elsie shrugged as she looked down at her drink.

“Is it really?” Phyllis asked, “how long has it been since you actually talked to Charles?”

Elsie was about to reply when Phyllis saw the minibus from Kymin Day Centre pull up outside the house. As the doorbell rung, she looked over at Elsie as if to say ‘you go and get it’. Elsie walked towards the front door and opened it. No sooner had she opened the front door, than she found herself with an armful of her sister.

“’Sie!”

“Hello Bex,” Elsie replied as she hugged her sister tightly, “nice to see you again Georgina,” she added speaking over her sister’s head to the other woman. One of the reasons that Becky spent one day a week at the Kymin Day Centre (other than to give Phyllis a break from a job that could more often than not be 24/7) was so that she could spend some time with others with similar mental health problems, and see Georgina who had been one of her other nurses at Cyprus Tree Lodge.

“And you,” Georgina smiled, “I would love to stay and catch up, but…” she tailed off as she indicated the minibus.

“I understand,” Elsie nodded, “I’ll see you again soon.”

“Are you staying again?” Becky asked sometime later as they walked along the sea front.

“Well, I do keep some spare clothes at the Molesley’s for a reason,” she smiled earning another tight hug from Becky, “now what do you say to getting some ice cream?”

\--x--

Charles looked at all the pieces of paper he had spread out in front of him and tried to figure out the most cohesive way of arranging them. The more linear it read, the easier Elsie - and anyone else who would read it - would find it to understand just what was in front of them. What information would have just landed in their lap. Charles smiled as he re-read the document that Matthew had emailed from America. Even without the information Matthew had sent over, he had enough to bring the bastard down. But that had just proved to be the cherry on the top. He looked up as Robert walked into the room and placed the tray on the floor.

“Is this everything?” Robert asked as he sat down beside Charles and looked through the papers.

“It is,” he confirmed, “even without the information that Matthew found out there would have been enough to get him out of Elsie’s hair, but with this,” he added as he passed it over to Robert, “thank you for helping me with all of this.”

“Think nothing of it,” he replied, “anything to help get Carlisle off of Elsie’s back,” Robert added, “do you think it will work?”

“I live in hope,” Charles sighed as he began to pull the documents together.

* * *

As she watched the last of the students head out of the classroom, Elsie closed her eyes and rested her head against the back of the chair. For the first time in several weeks, she felt a little more at peace with things. Sure she still hadn’t figured out what to do about Carlisle, but for the most part she’d managed to form some kind of plan. She would finish the twelve week course, then head up North. She’d looked into community education courses in Wales and Scotland, but the best ones she’d found had been in Manchester and Liverpool. She’d made some subtle enquiries and a fairly firm idea of where she would go. She did want to take Becky with her, but she would never consider putting her through that much upheaval less than a year after she’d have to move out of the care home. She would speak to Becky daily and visit whenever she could, but this way she could at least try and get some normality back into her working life after fifteen years of blackmail.

In the back of her mind, there was one idea that still niggled away at her mind. It had always been there, ever since that first moment of agreement with Carlisle. But she hadn’t felt brave enough to go through with it. Even now, when she had set aside enough to be able to take care of Becky regardless of where she was, Elsie still wasn’t sure she could go through with it. She had to admit, she was surprised that Charles hadn’t sent them around in the two weeks that had passed since she’d learnt the truth.

The sound of her phone ringing made her sit up and pull it out of her bag. She looked at the caller display and saw that it was Carlisle calling her. Rather than answer it, she flipped it over and ignored it.

“You know it will keep ringing until you answer it,” came a voice from the doorway. She looked up to see Thomas stood leant against the doorframe.

“It’s Carlisle,” she replied as Thomas took a seat opposite her, “what are you doing here? Didn’t you once call it a depressing hell hole?”

“That’s because I’m getting cynical in my old age,” he replied, “plus I didn’t know that you actually enjoyed it here. I thought you just said it to piss me off.”

“Well had things not happened, who knows what I might have been doing,” Elsie replied.

“You could have made a career out of this,” he commented honestly, “helped make a difference. Not that you don’t,” he added. “Now come on stop moping let’s get you out there.”

“I told you, I’m not doing that whole thing anymore,” Elsie sighed.

When she’d got back from her impromptu stay in Brighton she had called Thomas. Over a bottle of wine and trashy TV, she had told him that she was going to go back on her deal with Carlisle. Initially Thomas had been concerned it was a knee jerk reaction to what had happened with Charles, but eventually he had come to see that Elsie was finally doing what she should have done several years ago.

“I didn’t mean that,” he replied, “I meant that you’ve spent the past couple of weeks, practically being a shut in. You only leave your flat to visit Becky or come here. I miss the fun Elsie.”

“I’ll be fine soon. I just need a bit more time,” she smiled, “remember what you were like after you had broken up with Brian.”

Thomas nodded in reply. He had been a mess and even more of a shut in than Elsie was being currently.

“Well,” he said as he stood up, “I’m always at the end of the phone when you need me,” he added as he kissed the top of her head before he walked out of the room, “and you still owe me for that pizza the other night,” he called over his shoulder causing Elsie to start laughing.

Ten minutes later, Elsie walked out of the building to see Charles stood waiting for her. Despite everything that had gone on, she couldn’t help the elated feeling that started to bloom in her chest at the sight of him. ‘ _Oh calm yourself girl_ ,’ she thought to herself ‘ _you ignored his messages for a reason._ ’  
“What do you want?”

“To give you this,” he replied passing her a file, “in it, are details of every single one of Carlisle’s shady dealings, and the officials he has in his back pocket. It’s enough to get him off of your back.”

“Thank you,” she smiled before turning and walking away, not wanting him to see the tears that formed. The thoughtfulness of the gesture wasn’t lost on her. There was several options he had, had at his disposal when everything had gone wrong, and yet he had chosen this one.  
  
“Elsie!”  
  
“Yes?” she asked as she turned around to see Charles hurrying towards her.  
  
“Do you think we could start over as friends one day?” he asked. From the way she hadn’t answered any calls or texts he’d sent, Charles had assumed there was no longer any ‘them’ _._ To be fair, he’d be surprised if there was still a ‘them’.  
  
“Maybe,” she smiled.


	16. Chapter 16

Elsie sat at her kitchen table and slowly looked through the file. She hadn’t looked at it - save for a quick flick - since Charles had given it her. Mostly she had been afraid of what she might find. Charles had said it contained details of all of Carlisle’s shady dealings, and she was part of them, well the blackmail side of things at any rate. Now, however, she could see that there was nothing in the file that linked her to Carlisle. Either by blackmail or other means.  She breathed a sigh of relief as her thoughts turned to what she should do with the file. She had already discounted blackmailing Carlisle with it. She wouldn’t be able to stand up against him and there was no doubt he would somehow find a way to make things worse for her. She had also thought about sending the file to the police. But even with the list of officers (that went all the way up to the commissioner of the MET) that were in Carlisle’s back pocket, Elsie couldn’t be sure that the information wouldn’t be suppressed. The main option that she was seriously considering was passing on the information in the file to Reggie Swire, who in terms of newspaper circulation was Carlisle’s biggest competitor. Even if the information came to him by slightly dubious means, she knew that Reggie would not be able to pass up the opportunity to start and then chart every inch of Carlisle’s fall.   
  
She closed the file and finished off the wine in her glass. As she ran a hand across the cover Elsie smiled as she thought about the man who had given it to her. The amount of information he had pulled together had floored her and she knew that Charles must have called in every favour he had owing to him, to pull it off and offered several more favours in return. Especially to get a list like the one that showed the names of every single person that Carlisle had in his back pocket including several high court judges and a couple of politicians as well as numerous members of the police force. She tapped her fingers on the side of the glass, and knew there was something she had to do before she made this information public.

-x-x-

Charles hurried down the street to his flat. The rain that had been mere drizzle when he had got on the tube had turned into a full on downpour and he didn’t have an umbrella. He had initially thought about taking a walk through Primrose Hill, but the rain had changed that. Now he just wanted to get home. Ironically, this small flat on Mornington Terrace that he‘d had since he moved to London, felt less like home to him than his ’borrowed’ flat had. He supposed it was the presence of Elsie that had contributed to that feeling. His meeting with Robert had proved beneficial, there were several opportunities for him, if he needed them. Even without the prospect of a future with Elsie - things were still up in the air, he wasn’t sure how the file had been received - he didn’t feel like he was getting any joy out of private investigating anymore.  
  
As he reached the front steps of his building he noticed a red head stood by his front door, stood under an umbrella. Even from this distance he could tell who it was. As he drew near to her, he noticed a brown file stuck out of her handbag, and a takeaway cup of coffee grasped tightly in her free hand. A small smile appeared on her lips as she saw Charles approaching her.   
“Elsie?” he asked, “what are you doing here?”  
  
“Is that offer of friends still on?” she asked as she moved the umbrella so it covered them both.   
  
“It is,” Charles replied, “Do you want to come in?”  
  
“I would,” Elsie commented, “I’ve been stood here for about ten minutes now and I’ve never actually seen your flat,” she added and smiled at the sheepish almost grin she got from Charles.  
  
As he let her into the foyer of the building, Charles watched as she took down her umbrella and shook it outside. He thought about maybe telling her how it was good to see her, and how he’d been thinking about her a lot since they’d gone their separate way. However, he thought better of it when he considered that his downstairs neighbour – whose front door was right opposite the main door – would more than likely be watching through the peephole as her life’s mission was seeing what her neighbours were up to.  
“Where can I put this?” she asked holding up her umbrella.  
  
“There’s an umbrella stand in my flat.” Charles replied as he inclined his head towards the stairs and indicated that she should follow him.  
  
Charles was very much aware of her following him as they walked up the staircase towards his flat. He wondered how she had found out where he really lived, and he also wondered why she wanted to talk about his offer of the two of them being friends. He unlocked his front door and led her inside, pausing only to take her umbrella off of her. He opened up a door just by the front door and placed her umbrella inside it. He then indicated that she should turn around. Elsie gave him an amused glance over her shoulder as he took off her jacket and hung it up on a hook inside the coat closet.  
  
“Are you always this chivalrous?” Elsie teased, though underneath the tone, Charles could sense a hint of hurt. Though whether it was from the both of them or just her, he wasn’t sure.  
  
“You know I am,” Charles replied, “I only lied about my career and the place I lived in,” he added hastily as he saw the look that flashed across her face, “everything else was true,” he finished as he led her down the hallway, and indicated the various doors as he told her what they led to. Elsie guessed from the door that he started to gesture towards before he decided against it, was his bedroom, both shared an awkward glance and tried to suppress the thoughts that had arisen.  
  
“So why did you want to know about my offer of friends?” Charles asked as he sat down on the opposite side of the sofa. He tried not to focus on how she had one leg crossed over the other and how it had caused her skirt to ride up a fraction allowing him to catch a glimpse of thigh just above the top of her boots.  
  
Elsie paused for a moment, as if carefully choosing her words.  
“Because,” she began, “if I do send this to the police and press, and if he retaliates” she added indicating the file on the table, “I’m going to need all the friends I can get.”  
  
“Do you think he will retaliate?” Charles asked.  
  
“I wouldn’t put it past him,” Elsie sighed, as her fingers toyed with the frayed edge of a sofa cushion, “you should get this reupholstered or get a new one.”  
  
“You sound just like Beryl,” he muttered, his sister had been saying the exact same thing for several months now. At his comment Elsie had burst out laughing and Charles couldn’t help but imagine that things were normal between them again. It certainly gave him hope that everything wasn’t a lost cause between them.

“How is she?”

“She’s good,” Charles replied, “she asked about you the other day.”

“What did you say to her?” Elsie asked

“I told her you were busy,” he shrugged, “I couldn’t face telling her the truth. Didn’t want another bollocking from Beryl.”

“Wouldn’t it have been me that got the bollocking? I was the one in the wrong, I should nev…”

“We both were,” Charles commented before she could get into a one woman blame spiral, “we both lied, and we both entered the relationship under false pretences,” he added with a smile.

An hour later, Elsie had taken advantage of the fact that Charles had gone to the corner shop to get a pint of milk to have a look around his flat. She had noticed that even though it was smaller than his other one, it was still near enough the same. The bathroom was still en-suite, but it had two doors so you wouldn’t have to go through the bedroom all the time. The bedroom itself was larger than she would’ve thought though she did attribute that to the lack of bedroom furniture. There was a bed, two thin wardrobes and a chest of drawers. Unlike the living room, this window looked out over the communal garden.

As she walked back into the living room, she made her way over to the bookcase and skimmed the books that lined the walls. They were mostly autobiographies with the occasional classic or novel in the mix. Her eye was drawn to the dog-eared copy of Peter Pan that sat on the lowest shelf. She pulled it out and flipped open the front cover to see an inscription  _‘Christmas 1973’_ . Elsie smiled as she imagined a six year old Charles staying up into the early hours to read it. She placed it back on the shelf and then turned her head to look at the view. 

While the view wasn’t as breath-taking as it had been at the apartment in Wapping, there was something about it that was still typically London. Even if it was overlooking the railway lines into Euston station. Plus he was a stone’s throw away from Regent’s Park which she had to admit she was jealous of. The nearest to her were either Clapham Common or Wandsworth Common, and neither held much appeal to her anymore. Elsie had also gotten a kick out of the fact that it was practically around the corner from Gloucester Crescent.

“I know it’s not as nice a view as the previous one,” Charles commented. Elsie jumped slightly as she hadn’t realised that he had returned.

“Its lovely in its own way,” Elsie smiled as she turned to look at him.

“The answer is probably no,” Charles began after he’d put the milk away, “but I was wondering if you’d like to go out to dinner this evening,” he said, “as friends, of course” he added hastily, “friends can go out to dinner right?”  
  
“I don’t see why not,” Elsie smiled, “though there is something I’d like to do first, and I would like you to come with me.”

-x-x-

Charles stood nervously outside of Kentish Town police station while he waited for Elsie. At first he’d wondered why she wasn’t going to give Carlisle a taste of his own medicine, but when she’d explained her reasons he had understood completely. By sending the information to the police, she could get Carlisle away from other people he might exploit. Plus with the extra information in the file, he could get sent down for at last ten years, maybe even more when MI5 received word that it had been Carlisle that had leaked the names of several top spies that had been in a deep cover mission in Russia. The net result had been three dead spies and three years of information down the drain. Charles also had to admit that giving the heads up to one of Carlisle’s competitors that he was likely to get arrested and some of the information that was sent to the police was definitely one of the more inspired ideas.

He looked up as the doors opened and he saw Elsie walking towards him. As she drew near to him, Charles noticed that she looked as though some of the burden she carried with her had disappeared.

“How did it go?” he asked as he drew her into a hug as he sensed she needed it.

“It went alright,” Elsie replied, “I left it with a DC Parker,” she added, “one of the receptionists at the education centre, Daisy, is dating him,” she continued at a look from Charles, “he wasn’t one of the ones listed in the file, so I know he could be trusted.”

“Did he say what he was going to do with it?”

“He was going to look at it and then pass it along to his superiors and keep my name out of it,” she added as she pulled back from the hug, “so, where are we going for dinner?” she asked changing the subject.

“You’ll see,” Charles commented as he hailed them a taxi.

Dinner as it turned out, was at the OXO Tower where they had, had their first date several months ago. Elsie had initially been hesitant about it, on account of the memories, but she eventually decided to go in. They had been good memories after all. Despite the fact that they had agreed to give being friends a chance both couldn’t help but feel as though it was their first date all over again.

“I think it was a mistake to be friends again,” Elsie commented as they finished off their dessert.

“Oh,” Charles said trying not to let on how disheartened he was.

“Its just, I think there’s too much history between us to start from the beginning,” Elsie replied, “so,” she added after a few moments, “how about we give this relationship another chance.”

“So we’d go back to how it was?”

“No, we would take it slow as I think we have a lot to work through,” she replied, “there’s no doubt some lingering hurt that I’ve caused you,” she added.

Charles wanted to deny it, but what she had said was the truth. He did still feel hurt over what had transpired between them, but it was something that he hoped would lessen in time. Especially if they continued down this road they seemed to be on right now.

“How slow were you thinking?”

“Not glacial, but…” Elsie tailed off as she struggled to find the right words

“I understand,” Charles replied as he placed a hand over hers.  


An hour later, they were stood outside of her flat, while they waited for Charles’ taxi. As the earlier rain had dissipated and left a clear night in its wake they had taken the underground to Clapham Common and then walked the past the Common towards Severus Road. As they stood there, Elsie shivered slightly and Charles slid his jacket around her shoulders before he pulled her close to his side.

“You could always go inside you know,” he murmured against her hair.

“No, I’m enjoying this night,” she replied.

They continued to stand in silence, just savouring the closeness of each other and remembering how things had used to be. The moment was broken by the taxi pulling up beside them.

“Taxi for Carson?” the driver asked as he rolled down the window.

“Yes,” Charles replied, “so I’ll see you…”

“Soon,” Elsie replied, “but I will call you tomorrow,” she added as she reached up and kissed his cheek lightly, before she turned and walked up the front steps.

As she unlocked the door, she turned around and waved at Charles before she walked inside. Charles watched her switch on the kitchen light before he got into the taxi and gave the driver his address.

-x-x-

As Elsie left the education centre, she pulled out her phone and saw that she had a message from Charles ( _‘Call me the minute you get this’_ ) and a voicemail message from Thomas ( _‘Get your ass to TV or newspaper it’s all going down’_ ). She pulled up her phonebook and dialled Charles’ number.

“Have you heard?”

“Hello to you too,” Elsie commented, “what was so urgent I had to call you when I got your message?”

“So you haven’t heard then? About Carlisle?”

“What about him?” she asked feeling an icy chill run through her veins.

“He’s been arrested,” Charles replied, “they arrested him this afternoon. Not just on blackmail charges, but crimes against the crown for the names of the agents he leaked to the Russians,” he added, “Elsie, its over. He’ll be going away for a long time,” he continued, “Elsie?” he asked after she had been quiet for several moments, “Elsie? Are you there?”

“Yeah, its just…” she tailed off unsure of how to vocalise what she was feeling.

“I understand,” Charles commented, “either way I thought you should know.”

“Thank you for that,” Elsie replied, “I’ll talk to you later,” she added before she hung up.

-x-x-

Charles was sat on the sofa reading the evening edition of The Standard, when there was a knock at the door. He opened the front door to see Elsie stood there.

“How did you get in?” he asked, he hadn’t even heard her buzz his flat to let her in.

“Miss Denker, downstairs let me in,” she replied, “it’s really true isn’t it?” she asked before Charles could even speak.

“It is,” he nodded.

“Oh thank God,” she replied as she threw her arms around him, before she reached up and kissed him hard.

Charles was so shocked by how sudden it was that for a moment he just stood still. However, after several moments, he began to respond and deepened it by pulling her closer. When they broke apart, he opened his mouth to speak, but Elsie placed a finger over his lips.

“Don’t say anything,” she commented before she kissed him again. This time Charles responded almost immediately and with just as much fervour, before he led her towards his bedroom.

-x-x-

Sometime later, they lay closely entwined in the middle of Charles’ bed. Elsie had rested her head against his shoulder, while Charles ran a hand up her bare arm. Both were lost in their thoughts about what them sleeping together had meant for their whole ‘going slow’ arrangement.

“In the spirit of this new found honesty between us,” Elsie began after a few moments, “can I ask you something?”

“Anything,” he replied.

“I once asked you about the wound in your side, and you dodged the question,” she said, “will you tell me now?”

Charles nodded against her head, before he manoeuvred himself into a sitting position and pulled her with him, so she was still tucked against his side. He then took a deep breath before he began his story. Elsie listened as Charles told her how three years ago, Alice Neale had come to him asking for help as she suspected her fiancé Charlie Grigg was involved in the London section of an Eastern European crime syndicate involved in practically everything from gun running to human trafficking. He told her about how he had made the stupid mistake of getting involved personally with Alice in addition to professionally. Grigg had then found out about her using a private investigator for more than just investigating. In short, he had ended up with a bullet in his side and had spent several weeks at death’s door. Alice on the other hand had ended up with a bullet to the brain and Grigg ended up serving life in prison with no hope of release.

“Thank you for being honest with me,” Elsie said after several moments of silence while she let the story sink in.

“I wish I’d been honest with you sooner.”

“So do I, but we can’t change what’s gone on between us, lets just focus on the future,” Elsie replied, as she leaned up and wiped away a few tears that had fallen onto his cheeks before she kissed him softly.

-x-x-

Elsie smiled as she slowly came to and found herself curled up beside Charles. Even though things were supposed to be going slowly between them, she couldn’t help but feel as though things were right between them again. As though the past few weeks just hadn’t happened. Elsie shook her head at the hopeless romantic tone her thoughts had taken on. Careful not to wake Charles, she got out of the bed and pulled on the dress she had been wearing the previous night. She walked out into the hallway and picked up her bag from where she had dropped it the previous night. She picked it up and pulled out her phone, and wondered why she had a missed call and a voicemail message from a number she didn’t recognise. Elsie was about to listening to the message when the phone rang again with the same number.

“Hello.”

-x-x-x-x-

Charles awoke and frowned as he found himself in a cold and empty bed. He distinctly remembered Elsie being there when he’d finally drifted off to sleep in the early hours. He knew he couldn’t have scared her off with his tale of how he’d got the bullet wound, as she hadn’t made any attempt to leave earlier. In fact, he even recalled her reaction and knew that she wouldn’t have acted that way if it had scared her off. He shook his head slightly and got out of bed, for all he knew Elsie could be sat in the living room with a cup of coffee. However, he knew that, that couldn’t be true as none of her clothes were scattered around her bedroom floor, and his shirt was still there. While there were many aspects of her life that he still wondered if she’d been honest about, Charles was certain her habit of wearing his shirts was one that she  _had_ been honest about. 

As he walked into the living room it occurred to him that maybe she thought that things had moved a bit too fast for them the previous. They had only agreed to slowly start things up again, several days ago. He picked up his phone and called her number, hoping that she would at least give him a reason as to why she’d gone before he’d woken up. He frowned as the call went straight to her voicemail. He hung up not quite sure of what to say, as he had been fairly shocked by this. Her phone would usually ring for a bit before it went to voicemail.

‘ _Where the hell has she gone?’_ he thought to himself as he sat back on the sofa.


	17. Chapter 17

Charles walked down the street, and immediately frowned as he noticed her car was missing. He wondered where she could have gone. Even when they’d been ‘dating’, Elsie had normally left a note saying where she had gone. Charles knew that they’d only taken tentative steps back towards each other and he didn’t have the right (and would never want the right) to know where she was every minute of the day, but he couldn’t deny the fact that he was worried. Especially since it had been five days since he’d last seen her and once again had ignored all of his calls and texts.

His initial thought had been that things had moved too fast for her after they’d agreed to start things up again, but that probably wouldn’t have led to the wall of silence from her. Even if she needed her space, Charles was sure that she would have answered a text just to tell him so. He also knew that Carlisle wasn’t directly involved as he was still on remand at HMP Pentonville, though he suspected one of Carlisle’s henchmen if anyone had made Elsie scared enough to run away. That was if she had run away at all. He looked through a window and could see no signs that she’d been there within the past few days.

“She’s not here,” came a voice from behind him.

He turned around to see a tall man with dark hair watching him.

“I’d figured that out for myself,” Charles replied, “who are you?” he asked as he watched the man light a cigarette.

“Thomas Barrow, a friend of Elsie’s,” he replied, “I take it you are the famous Charles?”

“I am,” he said, “where is she?”

“Away,” Thomas replied, Elsie had only rung him to tell him where she was going and to water her plants. As she hadn’t mentioned Charles, Thomas didn’t feel that it was right to betray her. Especially as he wasn’t exactly sure of the circumstances between them at the moment and really didn’t think it was his place to mention any of it.

“Please,” Charles began as he walked down the steps to Thomas, “I’m just really worried about her, I just want…no, need to know that she’s alright. If she needs time away or privacy, I’ll give her that, just tell me she’s alright.”

Thomas regarded him for a moment. He could see his feelings written all over Charles’ face as well as the fact that the worry he held was genuine and he really did care for her. He knew he probably shouldn’t do it, but as he considered why she was in Brighton, then Elsie was going to need the support of the man she loved (and he knew Elsie was in love, no matter what she had told him). He pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and wrote an address on it before he passed it over to him.

“This is where you can find her, and I think she could really benefit from having you near her,” Thomas said, “word of advice, if you’re serious about this. About her. Don’t fuck it up this time,” he added as he walked up the front steps, “oh, and don’t let her fuck it up either,” he finished as he opened the door.

Charles smiled as he watched Thomas walk inside. Elsie had often told him of one of her closest – if not her only – friends and he was pleased to have finally met him. Especially as it meant that there would be someone to keep on eye on her, if things went wrong between them again.

As he walked back towards Clapham Junction station, Charles looked at the piece of paper Thomas had passed him. The address stared back at him: ‘ _1_ _7 West Drive_ , _Brighton_ ’. He tried to figure out why she would have run down south, before it occurred to him and why Thomas had said that Elsie would probably need his support. First he needed to go back to his flat to get some clothes then he was going to take a trip to Brighton.

For the majority of the train ride, Charles had wondered how Elsie would react to seeing him there. Especially since she hadn’t actually told him where she would be and he’d only found out because Thomas had told him. His trains of thoughts flipped between Elsie telling him to get lost or throwing herself at him in relief. When he considered that she had ignored any of his attempts to contact her, he thought it might be the former rather than the latter.

As the taxi pulled up outside of the house, Charles could easily see why Elsie often escaped here and why Becky enjoyed it. While it looked a little large and imposing, the small butterfly windmills around the grass area of the drive and odd abandoned bounce ball told him it was most definitely a family home. Charles could also tell that he had found the right place, as he noticed Elsie’s car parked in the paved driveway. He walked up the driveway and rang the doorbell, hoping that it would be Elsie that opened the door. He was stood there for a few seconds before the door opened to reveal a woman with short dark hair.

“Can I help you?”

“Oh, um, hi. I’m looking for Elsie Hughes.”

“You must be Charles,” the woman smiled as he nodded in reply, “I’m Phyllis Molesley. Elsie has told me all about you. Come on in,” she added as she stood to one side to let him.

As he followed Phyllis through the hallway, into the kitchen, he noticed the several bouquets of flowers and cards that lined a cabinet in the living room and realised what must have happened.

“Can I get you anything?” Phyllis asked as she turned to check on the cake that she had, had in the oven.

“Not right now,” Charles replied, “is Elsie here?”

“No, she’s gone out for a walk,” she replied, “I insisted,” she added, “she’s been in the house since she arrived…well since she left the hospital,” she continued, “myself and my husband Joe have helped as much as we can with the planning and everything, but we can’t do anything for her, if she makes herself ill in the process. To be honest, I don’t think it’s really hit her yet,” she said, “so I’m glad you’ve arrived,” she finished.

“So her sister…” he tailed off, as Phyllis nodded.

“I’ll let her tell you when you see her,” Phyllis replied, “it’s her story to tell, not mine. She’s gone to St. Ann’s Well Gardens.”

-x-x-

Charles followed the directions that Phyllis had given him, thankful that the roads were signposted enough so that he could find his way around the city. It wasn’t that he was unfamiliar with Brighton, he’d been down to the sea front and the Marina a few times, but the residential areas, were less known to him. As he turned onto Somerhill Road, he let out a sigh of relief as he saw the entrance to the park. _‘Now I just need to find her,’_ he thought.

As he walked through the park, Charles scanned every inch of the park. It had been several days since he’d seen her and despite the situation, or the state he assumed he’d find her in, he couldn’t deny he would be happy to see her. As he approached the tennis court, he caught sight of a solitary figure sat on a bench staring straight ahead at nothing in particular. As he drew near to her, he felt his heart swell at the sight of her and immediately wanted to wrap her up and never let any harm come to her.

“I wondered when you’d show up,” Elsie commented as he sat down beside her.

“How did…”

“Thomas,” she interrupted, she could sense where his question was going, “he sent me a message and told me what he’d done. He was worried, he’d done the wrong thing,” she added before she turned to look at him, “he hadn’t. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you myself or return any of your calls. I nee…”

“I understand,” Charles commented, as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and drew him to her side. As he felt the tears soak through his jacket, he knew there was nothing much he could do at the moment but hold her close, murmur reassuring words against her hair and occasionally brush his lips against the top of her head. Charles guessed that this was the weeks events finally hitting her, everything that had happened with her sister and that whole business with Carlisle. He couldn’t help but feel a small surge of pride, that he had been the one that she’d broken down in front of.

Half an hour later, he felt her body stop shaking and the tears slowly subside. Rather than immediately move away, Charles continued to hold her and let her decide what happened next.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked eventually when he felt her pull back a little.

“I do,” she nodded, “but let’s walk back to the Molesley’s while we do it,” she added, “if I focus on where I’m going while I’m telling you, I won’t break down as much again.”

As they walked back to West Drive, Elsie took a deep breath before she began to tell him what had happened.

“The morning I left you alone, I woke up to see that I’d had voicemail left for me, it had come from an unrecognised number, as I was about to listen to it, I received a phone call from the same number. It was Phyl calling from the hospital, Becky had, had a cerebral aneurysm and was in emergency surgery, well that had been the voicemail, the second call was to let me know that all had gone well. As I’d driven to your house the night before, I just got straight into my car and headed on down. I could probably have left you a note, but my first and really my only thought was for my sister.”

“I’d have expected nothing less,” Charles commented, raising a small smile from Elsie.

“Anyway, when I got here, she was sleeping, she’d come around from surgery and every thing was fine. I sent Phyl home to get some rest, I’d stay with Becky. An hour later, things took a turn for the worst. Five minutes after that, she was gone,” she said, her voice breaking a little on the word gone. “I know I already said it,” she added as they turned onto West Drive, “but I’m so thankful you’re here.”

“Well, I don’t plan on going anywhere,” he replied, “whatever you need. I’m here for you.”

* * *

The sun shone down through the trees as the small congregation left the crematorium. It had been a relatively short service, but no less moving. Elsie had delivered a touching eulogy about Becky and had told them all about the funny little girl who would run around the farm yard chasing the chickens, who never failed to make someone smile however, down they were feeling. The only hymn that had been sung was _‘Old Rugged Cross’_ and Phyllis had read _‘Remember’_ by Christina Rosetti.

“Are you alright?” Charles asked as they walked back towards the car. True to his word, he had been there for her every minute. From the late night talks in the conservatory over wine, to walks along the sea front to someone to curl up next to when she fell apart in the dead of night.

“I think I will be,” Elsie replied. It would take a while for her to get used to the fact that she no longer had to worry about paying for Becky’s care, she couldn’t deny it was a weight off of her mind.

\--x--

Several days later, Elsie and Charles were getting ready to head back to London. They’d picked up Becky’s ashes from the crematorium earlier that day and were planning to scatter them on the beach before they left Brighton.

“Are you sure you won’t except the money?” Phyllis asked as Elsie stood in the doorway of number 17, “I feel guilty keeping all of the money for her care, when it was only needed for three months.”

“I am,” Elsie nodded, “I have no need of it. Use it for a nice family holiday, or put it away for Katie, go crazy and buy anything,” she laughed, “and when you decided to go back to work, use me as a reference.”

“I will,” Phyllis nodded.

“Are you sure you won’t come with us?” Elsie asked, “you and Joseph cared for Becky too, you should be there when we scatter the ashes.”

“No,” Phyllis smiled, “it should be you, you’re her last remaining family, just stay in touch yeah.”

“I promise,” Elsie replied as she hugged Phyllis, “tell Joe I said goodbye and tell Katie I’ll see her soon,” she added as she headed towards the car. Both she and Charles waved goodbye, before they got into the car and drove towards the pier.

\--x--

The wind whipped Elsie’s hair around her face as she stood at the edge of the sea. As it was still fairly warm, both she and Charles had removed their socks and shoes and were stood with the water lapping around their ankles. She moved to twist the lid off of the urn, when she felt Charles place a hand over hers.

“What?” she asked as she turned to face him.

“Don’t scatter them here,” Charles replied, “that hill you mentioned in Scotland, is it a hard climb?”

“No,” she commented, “well no more than some others, why?”

“And it was special to both of you wasn’t it?”

“It was,” she nodded, “we were born and raised by that hill, it was our childhood,” she added, not entirely sure where Charles was going with his train of thought.

“Then wouldn’t it be nice for Becky’s final resting place to be the hill where you played as children? Somewhere that would be special to both of you?”

Elsie looked out at the vast expanse of water in front of her. She couldn’t deny Charles’ idea was a good one, and she was surprised she hadn’t considered it herself. Though she suspected that it was something to do with the fact that it had been twenty five years since she was last in Argyll.

“That would be nice,” Elsie smiled, “and I would love to visit the old homestead.”

“So when should we head up there?” he asked as they returned to their belongings.

“We?” Elsie asked with a slightly raised eyebrow.

“I promised you I’d be here for you,” Charles smiled, “and I intend to keep that promise.”

“Thank you for that.”

“What are friends for?” he asked as they walked back up the beach

“I think we’re a little more than friends,” Elsie smiled.


	18. Chapter 18

The scenery blurred into a mesh of green and brown as the train sped North. Elsie raised her head from the window to look over the table at Charles who was sat reading a book, before she rested her head back against the window. Since Brighton, he had kept true to his promise of being there for her, he had even helped her to arrange everything for this trip. They were taking the train to Glasgow, where they would stay for the night, before making the drive to the farm just outside of Inveraray. Charles had chosen a small hotel five minutes away from the station that he had stayed in while on an old friends stag weekend. As they would only be in Scotland for one full day they had taken one suitcase between them (something Elsie had slightly enjoyed the domesticity of) and one bag that contained the urn.

Even though there was a part of her that couldn’t wait to see the old homestead again, Elsie couldn’t deny that there was a part of her that didn’t want to go back. She had many happy memories of her childhood. The image of the farm was fixed so clearly in her mind, that she wasn’t sure that the reality of it would hold up.

Out of the corner of her eye, Elsie sensed a movement. She lifted her head to see that Charles had put his book down and was watching her. As if he could sense her inner thoughts, he placed his hand palm up on the table. Elsie smiled as she understood the silent invitation and placed her hand in his. Even though she had said that they were more than friends, since their return from Brighton it was as though they had set a reset switch on themselves. Despite all that they were feeling, they had never mentioned or repeated what had happened the night Carlisle had been arrested. As the train pulled into Lancaster Station, he raised her hand and pressed a kiss to it before he lowered it back to the table.

\--x--

“Typical,” Elsie muttered as the train pulled into Glasgow Central Station.

“What?”

“It would be raining wouldn’t it?” Elsie replied as she indicated the pattern of droplets on the window.

“If its any consolation,” Charles commented, “it looks like its only a shower. And it’s only a few minutes walk to the hotel from the station.”

Elsie conceded his point with a smile, before she stood up from her seat and followed him towards the doors.

True to his words the Hotel Indigo Glasgow was only four minutes away from the station. Once they had checked in, they headed up to their room on the third floor. Elsie swiped the card on the door and pushed it open, as Charles followed behind. There was a small en-suite, a built in wardrobe, 26” TV on the wall, some shelving two bedside cabinets and one double bed. The walls were a light blue, and the bedding was a similar hue.

“I…uhm….was going to, uh…book a uhm twin room,” Charles began nervously as he scratched the back of his neck.

“It’s fine,” Elsie commented stopping his nervous speech, “besides its not like we haven’t before,” she added.

Due to the time they would be leaving in the morning (mostly because they also wanted to put in a visit to Loch Lomond on the way back) both Charles and Elsie were planning on an early night. First though they were heading a small Steakhouse just done the road from the hotel. Elsie would’ve been happy eating in the small hotel restaurant, but Charles had insisted on the steakhouse. Mostly because his old room mate from University was the Head Chef there and had promised them a decent table.

Over dinner they talked about everything and nothing, while Elsie revealed a few stories about what it had been like to grow up on a farm. Despite what Charles had learnt about her father’s penchant for drinking and gambling, he got the feeling that Elsie and Becky had never been privy to this until much later. He certainly felt that there was now very few secrets that between. Charles then told Elsie all about his meeting with Robert they other day, and how there were a few roads open to him, if he were to give up his business. Something that he had been thinking about increasingly.

“But why on Earth would you want to do that?” Elsie had asked, when he’d told her.

“After the tangle that became this case,” he replied as he waved between the two of them, “I found no enjoyment in the job anymore,” he added, “the small cases that come my way are over in a day or not worth any fee whatsoever.”

“Well I think you’re brave to even consider changing careers, I’m not sure I could be that strong,” Elsie commented, “or that brave,” she added as an afterthought.

“Oh I don’t know,” Charles smiled, “you walked away from Carlisle’s blackmail, and your ‘second life’ I’d say that’s pretty brave,” he added, “you’re stronger than you give yourself credit for.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere, Mr Carson,” she teased, though deep down she was incredibly touched by his words. Charles must have sensed her inner thoughts as he reached across the table and stroked the back of her hand gently.

For a few moments, they just sat staring at each other. Neither blinked or looked away, it was probably the most charged moment they’d shared in a while. It felt as though this weekend could be make or break for their tentative steps back towards each other.

“Shall we go back to the hotel?” Elsie asked as she looked away from his gaze. The unspoken intention obvious. Her mind firmly made up about what she wanted.

“If you’re sure.”

“I am,” she nodded as she looked straight at him, her every thought written in her expression. Charles nodded back at her as he signalled the waiter.

Later that night, they were curled close together in the middle of the bed. There was now no doubt in either of their minds that any thoughts of taking things slow had gone out of the window. While there were still a few things that needed to be discussed and a few issues to be straightened out, both were fairly certain that they were (near enough) back to where they had been before everything had gone to pot. With those thoughts at the front of their mind, both slept soundly and experienced very pleasant dreams.

* * *

The following morning, they left the hotel around half past eight. The rental firm had dropped the rental car off in the hotel car park half hour previously. With a little help from Elsie for the exact location, Charles knew the route he would be driving to get to the old Hughes farm. Though from what they had seen when they mapped the route on his phone, the farm was still a working one, as well as a farm shop, so it would at least have a few signs marking its location.

The further they drove out of the city, the more of the countryside they saw. They also noticed that the sunshine from earlier, showed no signs of being hidden by clouds or rain.

“It looks like its going to be a lovely day,” Elsie commented as they caught bursts of sun that broke through the cover of trees marking the border of the Trossachs National Park.

“It really does,” Charles replied, as he watched the scenery through the windscreen, “I can’t believe you grew up surrounded by this.”

“I know,” she smiled, “I can’t believe its taken me this long to come back. But I guess I carried the sense of failure over from my mother.”

“What do you mean?”

“The farm had been in my father’s family for generations, dating right back the 1850s when my many times great grandfather took over the farm from his wife’s father. Since then our family had seen it through wars, rebellions, the depression, everything. It passed down eldest son to eldest son.”

“And it was never in danger until your mother had to sell it,” Charles added, watching as Elsie nodded in reply.

“Still at least its still standing and not left for the elements to take it over,” she commented as they took the turning for Inveraray.

\--x--

They had driven roughly ten miles past Inveraray Castle when the noticed the sign for Hillside Farm and Shop. Elsie felt the butterflies set in as they turned onto the country road. It wasn’t nerves, (at least, she didn’t think it was nerves), but more that feeling of returning to a place that had once belonged to you, but now belonged to someone else.

As they drove round the bend, they caught sight of the farm house. Elsie couldn’t help the smile that arose on her face as she caught sight of it. It still looked just as she remembered it. The red brick of the farm house still stood out against the green and brown of the surrounding hills.

“Is it how you remembered it?” Charles asked as they pulled into one of the parking spaces marked out.

“It is,” Elsie replied, “of course the roof and windows have been updated as the years have gone on, and the barn that’s now the shop is definitely new.”

“How do you know that?”

“The original barn was destroyed by a storm the year we sold it,” Elsie commented, “it’s still there,” she muttered.

“What is?”

“See that tree there,” Elsie replied as she pointed towards the top of a tree that was visible just behind the house, “I used to climb it as a child, and…” she tailed off with a smile.

“You used to what?”

“It’s nothing,” she commented with a wave of her hand, “let’s have a look around the shop before we go up the hill,” she added.

The first thing that they noticed as they entered the shop was that the shelves were stocked full of various jars filled with jams and marmalades. There were also where also home grown vegetables that both knew were mostly brought by the local community. Behind the counter there were several small homemade cakes, pies, breads and cheeses.

The second thing they noticed was the various pictures lining the walls. Some were of the landscape and various Scottish landmarks, others were of people. One Elsie knew was of the 13th Duke of Argyll and his family, the current Chief of Clan Campbell. The other one that drew her attention was of a family of four, with one of the girls sat on a low branch of the tree. As she drew closer, she realised why she recognised it.

“Oh my God,” she muttered.

“What is it?” Charles asked.

“This picture, its…”

“Can I help you?”

Both Elsie and Charles turned around to see a plump woman come out of the back room. Elsie recognised her as the wife of the man who had brought the farm over twenty years ago.

"Where did you find this picture?” Elsie asked.

“What’s it to you?”

“It’s me and my family. It was taken on Becky’s fifth birthday,” she replied, “right after it was taking, I broke my arm falling out of the tree,” she laughed, “I’m Elsie Hughes. My mother was Marion Hughes, you and your husband brought the farm from her in the early 90’s.”

“So you are,” the woman said as she drew near, “you look just your mother. How is she?”

“She died,” Elsie replied, “about 20 years ago.”

“I am sorry to hear that, she seemed like such a lovely woman.”

“She was,” Elsie nodded as she felt the tears gather.

“Louisa Wilde,” the woman said as she introduced herself to Charles, sensing Elsie needed a moment.

“Charles Carson,” he replied.

“So where did you find the picture?” Elsie asked as she wiped the tears away, “my mother always said she lost it.”

“It was tucked away at the back, of a cupboard in one of the rooms. Since this was – and it still is – a family farm, I decided to put it up in here,” Louisa replied, “I hope you don’t mind.”

“I don’t,” Elsie smiled, “its nice to see it again after all these years.”

“I think there’s something else you’d like to see again,” Louisa replied as she walked towards the door that led into the garden of the farm house and beckoned them towards her.

As they followed Louisa across the garden, they told her about why they were back by the farm. Elsie realised where they were heading, and smiled as they approached the large ash tree. Charles followed as Elsie moved closer to the trunk while Louisa watched from a distance. He noticed that there were several etchings on the trunk, and watched as Elsie traced a finger over two different sets.

“When I was eight, the same summer I broke my arm,” Elsie began, “that was the first time Becky started to notice that she was a little different from me, and naturally she worried, she was only five, and I told her that there was nothing to be worried about that I would always look out for her.”

“And you did,” Charles commented.

“Did I?” she asked quietly, “I told her that if we carved our initials on this tree, we’d live forever,” she added, “it’s outlived her, and I daresay it will outlive me,” she continued as she traced the EH and BH, “that’s Becky’s contribution to it,” she said as she traced the small etching of a cat, “she based it on our cat Buttons. I don’t know why we called it that,” she finished with a laugh.

Wordlessly, Charles handed her the bag that contained the urn and Elsie understood why. She looked over her shoulder at Louisa who nodded gently to say it was okay. Elsie lifted the lid of the urn and scooped out a handful, before scattering it around the base of the tree trunk.

“Now you can stay here forever,” Elsie murmured low enough that even Charles had to strain to hear it. She handed the bag back to Charles, before she pressed a kiss to two of her fingers then placed them over the ‘BH’.

* * *

An hour later, they were stood at the top of the hill. From here they could see most of the small village, and just on the horizon they could see one of the turrets of Inveraray Castle. Charles stood a back slightly as he let Elsie have a little moment to say a final goodbye to her sister.

“I’ll see you soon darling,” Elsie commented as she scattered the last of the ashes. As she felt the wind whip slightly, and a few rays of sun broke through the clouds that had gathered in the past half hour, she couldn’t help but feel as though it was Becky acknowledging what her sister was doing. She took one last deep breath and walked back towards Charles and stepped into his open arms.

“So what now?” Charles asked after a short while.

“We go back to London, and I go back to worrying,” Elsie replied, speaking into his chest

“Why?”

“Carlisle’s trial’s coming up, and I have no doubt my name will get dragged into it,” she sighed as she pulled back to look at him

“It won’t.” Charles commented firmly.

“How can you know that?”

“Because I called in every single favour I have to my name, and offered plenty more, to make sure that no matter what, your name is never uttered once throughout any of it,” he replied as he pressed a kiss to her forehead.

They were about to start back down the hill, when Elsie reached out a hand and placed it on his arm.

"Why?” she asked, finally voicing the question that had been on her mind for the past few days. Well since the day he’d handed her the file on Carlisle if she was honest.

“Why what?” Charles asked.

“Why to any of it,” she replied, “why would you help me? Why would you do any of this? Come with me to scatter Becky’s ashes? Keep my name out of everything?”

“I’d have thought that was obvious,” Charles commented with a smile. Elsie smiled and bowed her head slightly. He tilted her head up, so he could look her in the eyes. So she couldn’t doubt the sincerity of what he was about to say. “I love you.”

Elsie couldn’t help the few tears that spilled in that moment. She couldn’t remember the last time any had ever sincerely told her that they loved her, aside from her sister. She then reached up and pressed her lips against his. She then moved her arms to rest around his neck as the kiss deepened and he pulled her against him.

“And just so we’re clear,” she began when they broke apart, “I love you too.”


End file.
